NDLI: Cross-border healthcare-seeking and utilization behaviours among ethnic minorities: exploring the nexus of the perceived better option and public health concerns

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Leung, Sik Yee Ku, Hok Bun
Abstract	Background Many ethnic minorities in Hong Kong seek medical tourism after encountering inequalities in access to local healthcare because of language barriers and cultural-religious differences. The present study explored the ethnic minorities’ lived experiences of medical tourism and issues arising from cross-border health-seeking relevant to this specific population. Methods Qualitative in-depth interviews with 25 ethnic minority informants from five South Asian countries in 2019. Results The 19 informants out of the 25 have sought assistance from their international networks for home remedies, medical advice and treatments of traditional/Western medicines, for they are more costly or unavailable in Hong Kong and for issues related to racial discrimination, language barriers, transnationalism engagement, cultural insensitivity, and dissatisfaction with healthcare services in Hong Kong. Discussion Medical tourism can relieve the host country’s caring responsibilities from healthcare services, so the government might no longer be hard-pressed to fix the failing healthcare system. Consequently, it could cause public health concerns, such as having patients bear the risks of exposure to new pathogens, the extra cost from postoperative complications, gaps in medical documentation and continuum of care, etc. It also triggers global inequities in health care, exacerbating unequal distribution of resources among the affordable and non-affordable groups. Conclusion Ethnic minorities in Hong Kong sought cross-border healthcare because of structural and cultural-religious issues. The surge of medical tourism from rich and developed countries to poor and developing countries may infringe upon the rights of residents in destination countries. To mitigate such negative impacts, policymakers of host countries should improve hospital infrastructure, as well as train and recruit more culturally sensitive healthcare workers to promote universal health coverage. Healthcare professionals should also strive to enhance their cultural competence to foster effective intercultural communication for ethnic minority groups.
Related Links	https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-024-18981-1.pdf
Ending Page	10
Page Count	10
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712458
DOI	10.1186/s12889-024-18981-1
Journal	BMC Public Health
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	24
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2024-06-04
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Public Health Medicine Epidemiology Biostatistics Vaccine Environmental Health Medical tourism Global equity in health care Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Journal Impact Factor	3.5/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.9/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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