Qualitative experiences of primary health care and social care professionals with refugee-like migrants and former quota refugees in New Zealand

Abstract

Former quota refugees are known to have higher health and social care needs than the general population in resettlement countries. However, migrants with a refugee-like background (refugee-like migrants) in New Zealand are not currently offered systematic government-sponsored induction or health services. This study explored the experiences of New Zealand health and social care providers in general practice. Staff at two Wellington region general practices with known populations of refugee-like migrants and former quota refugees were approached to participate in an exploratory qualitative study. Semistructured audio-recorded interviews and focus groups were undertaken. Deductive and inductive analyses were used to identify key themes. Twelve interviews were undertaken with professionals with backgrounds in clinical pharmacy, cross-cultural work, general practice medicine, primary care nursing, reception and social work. Key themes from the interviews were communication challenges, organisational structure and teamwork, considerations to best meet core health and support needs, and the value of contextual knowledge. Healthcare workers perceived many similarities between working with refugee-like migrants and working with former quota refugees. Even though communication challenges were addressed, there were still barriers affecting the delivery of core health and support services. Primary care practices should focus on organisational structure to provide high-quality, contextually informed, interprofessional team-based health and social care.