'Midlife care to migrant women: primary healthcare providers' beliefs about barriers and facilitators'

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to understand primary healthcare providers' beliefs about barriers and facilitators providing culturally competent midlife care to migrant women.

Background: Primary healthcare is the entry level to the health system. It is usually the first point of contact in accessing the healthcare system and provides a range of services including health promotion and prevention. Migrant women are less likely to access and engage in health screening and health promotion activities and consequently may miss out on optimal health in older age.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including two free-text questions, part of an online survey, was thematically analysed. 76 primary healthcare providers answered the free-text questions.

Findings: Competing priorities as a result of migration and settlement experiences, the healthcare systems' limited resources to respond to the needs of migrant population and culturally informed beliefs and behaviour about menopause were viewed as barriers to midlife care for migrant women. Flexible models of primary healthcare and coordinated engagement with community groups were proposed to address these barriers. Primary healthcare providers perceived the current primary healthcare model to be inadequate to address the additional needs of migrant women. A review of the model of care may include 'task shifting' where nurses provide advanced care to migrant women in midlife. Perceptions of midlife and menopause are informed by culture. Hence, a culturally informed health promotion programme led by migrant women may be one strategy to address the limited participation in preventative healthcare including health screening at the time around menopause.

Keywords: Menopause; Primary healthcare; midlife; migrant women; migration experiences; primary healthcare providers.