Seeking Health Information: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Women of Refugee Background from Myanmar in Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

Women of refugee background are subject to significant health inequity. Access to health information and a good level of health literacy are integral components to manage one’s health needs. The aim of this study isto understand the experiences of women of refugee background from Myanmar seeking and accessing health information. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 women of refugee background from Myanmar resettled in Western Australia. Interpretative phenomenological analysis underpinned the study and was conducted on the interview data. Three superordinate themes and nine subordinate themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Seeking health information (Motivation and Sources), (2) Facilitators and Barriers (Communication, Navigating the system and Community) and (3) Seeking health information in the context of past experiences (Health information as a by-product of healthcare, Health professionals’ provision of health information, Accessibility of healthcare and Expectations on resettlement). These themes provide insight into the challenges of accessing understandable and actionable health information and of promoting the health literacy of women of refugee background from Myanmar. Co-designed community-based and health service interventions should be trialled, including trauma-informed training for health professionals, health information apps and community health promotion programs. Community engagement, participation and evaluation are critical for determining the effective interventions to address the inequalities experienced by this population.