WHY DO OLDER TURKISH IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN EUROPE USE HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN TURKEY?

摘要

Background: Turkish labor immigrants that moved to European countries around 1970’s and have already reached the “old age”. Health care needs increase with advanced age as the number of chronic diseases increases. In the case of migration, retirement enables more flexible use of the country for treatment. Research has shown that satisfaction from health care services in host countries are among factors hindering the immigrants to consider remigration. Cross border health care practices of older Turkish immigrants have been found to differ from other nationalities.The aim of the research is to evaluate the effect of interpersonal relations between health care providers and older Turkish immigrants on cross border health care use, the perceptions and practices of older Turkish immigrants about the health care services in their host countries (Denmark (DK), Germany (D) and England (UK)) and Turkey.Methods: A multi centered, qualitative cross sectional study was conducted with Turkish immigrants living in Copenhagen (DK), Hildesheim (D) and London (UK). Semi structured interviews were performed with 67 individuals aged between 50 and 83. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and submitted to thematic analysis.Results: Using Glino’s typology for cross border health service use, availability and perceived quality have been found to be push factors shaping cross border health care use. Practices were mainly towards early and right diagnosis. Language barrier however has come up as a theme but surprisingly did not affect the use and perceptions of cross border health care.