IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i20p6948-d1263753.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating Rural Health Disparities in Colombia: Identifying Barriers and Strategies to Advancing Refugee Health

Author

Listed:
  • John Diaz

    (Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Plant City, FL 33563, USA)

  • Isabel Taboada

    (College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA)

  • Adriana Abreu

    (College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA)

  • Lara Vargas

    (College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA)

  • Ysabel Polanco

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia, Medellin 050010, Antioquia, Colombia)

  • Alex Zorrilla

    (College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA)

  • Norman Beatty

    (College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
    Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA)

Abstract

Health disparities within rural communities, notably those affecting migrant and refugee populations, are well-documented. Refugees often grapple with high disease burdens and mortality rates due to limited access to primary healthcare and their vulnerable socio-economic and political situations. This issue is particularly acute in the rural areas around Medellin, Colombia, where the refugee influx exacerbates the existing public health challenges. Studies highlight a substantial gap between community needs and public health policies, resulting in inadequate healthcare access. Our study, utilizing the Delphi technique, aimed to identify common barriers and strategies to enhance rural healthcare for refugees. Through consensus-building with community leaders, we identified six primary barriers to healthcare access and five barriers to healthcare quality. Community leaders endorsed five strategies to address the access barriers and eight strategies to improve healthcare quality. This research provides valuable insights for optimizing resource allocation and designing effective support programs for these vulnerable populations.

Suggested Citation

  • John Diaz & Isabel Taboada & Adriana Abreu & Lara Vargas & Ysabel Polanco & Alex Zorrilla & Norman Beatty, 2023. "Evaluating Rural Health Disparities in Colombia: Identifying Barriers and Strategies to Advancing Refugee Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(20), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:20:p:6948-:d:1263753
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/20/6948/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/20/6948/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefano Angeleri & Thérèse Murphy, 2023. "Parsing human rights, promoting health equity: reflections on Colombia’s response to Venezuelan migration," Medical Law Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(2), pages 187-204.
    2. Garcia-Subirats, Irene & Vargas, Ingrid & Mogollón-Pérez, Amparo Susana & De Paepe, Pierre & da Silva, Maria Rejane Ferreira & Unger, Jean Pierre & Vázquez, María Luisa, 2014. "Barriers in access to healthcare in countries with different health systems. A cross-sectional study in municipalities of central Colombia and north-eastern Brazil," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 204-213.
    3. Tommasi, Mariano & Lustig, Nora, 2020. "El COVID-19 y la protección social de los grupos pobres y vulnerables en América Latina: un marco conceptual," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    4. Few, Roger & Ramírez, Viviana & Armijos, Maria Teresa & Hernández, Lina Andrea Zambrano & Marsh, Hazel, 2021. "Moving with risk: Forced displacement and vulnerability to hazards in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alipio, Mark, 2020. "A Path Analysis Examining the Relationship Between Access Barriers to Health Services and Healthcare Utilization Among the Publicly Insured: Insights from a Multiprovince Survey in the Philippines," SocArXiv d6vbm, Center for Open Science.
    2. Millán-Quijano, Jaime & Pulgarín, Sebastián, 2023. "Oiling up the field. Forced internal displacement and the expansion of palm oil in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Mauricio Gallardo & María Emma Santos & Pablo Villatoro & Vicky Pizarro, 2021. "Measuring vulnerability to multidimensional poverty in Latin America," Working Papers 36, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    4. Parkinson, Sarah E. & Behrouzan, Orkideh, 2015. "Negotiating health and life: Syrian refugees and the politics of access in Lebanon," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 324-331.
    5. Vázquez, María-Luisa & Vargas, Ingrid & Garcia-Subirats, Irene & Unger, Jean-Pierre & De Paepe, Pierre & Mogollón-Pérez, Amparo Susana & Samico, Isabella & Eguiguren, Pamela & Cisneros, Angelica-Ivonn, 2017. "Doctors' experience of coordination across care levels and associated factors. A cross-sectional study in public healthcare networks of six Latin American countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 10-19.
    6. Conțiu Tiberiu Șoitu & Silviu-Petru Grecu & Romeo Asiminei, 2022. "Health Security, Quality of Life and Democracy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparative Approach in the EU-27 Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-26, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:20:p:6948-:d:1263753. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.