Uganda hosts an estimated 34,200 urban refugees who are living within the peri-urban areas among nationals in Kampala city. The study assessed factors that affect access to health services by the urban refugees and host communities. A cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2011 and June 2012 employing qualitative and quantitative techniques of data collection. Using structured questionnaires and guides, 944 heads of households interviews who were randomly selected using cluster sampling, 6 key informant interviews and 2 focus group discussions were conducted. SPSS, STATA and manifest-content analysis was used for analysis. The factors found to promote access to health services for refugees and host communities were availability of health facilities, (91.2%, 229/246) for refugees compared to (97.8%, 220/224) for nationals (OR = 2.61; 95%CI 1.36-5.03; p<0.05); and geographical accessibility to health facilities within a 5 km distance, (75.6%, 291/384) for refugees compared to (95.5%, 340/356) for nationals (OR=1.64; 95%1.25-2.16; p=0.000). Access was hindered by affordability of health services, refugees (44.9%, 173/385) compared to nationals (80.9%, 288/356) (OR = 4.68; 95%CI 3.33-6.59; p<0.05) and temporal accessibility of health services, refugees (23.5%, 53/226) compared to nationals (67.4%, 203/301) (OR = 2.61; 95%CI 1.36-5.03; p<0.05). Nationals (55.7%, 234/420) compared to refugees (21.3%, 76/356) (OR=0.41; 95%CI 0.23-0.73; p=0.003) perceived health services provided by the public facilities as good. Access to health care by urban refugees is enhanced by availability of and the proximity to health facilities while it is hindered by cost of health care, long-waiting time and low acceptability of the services. Refugees have a poorer perception towards the quality of health services compared to nationals. There is need to invest in the availability of comprehensive health services, demand creation initiatives, refugee skills trainings and income generating activities, establishment of a refugee buddy-system to facilitate communication and institutionalization of a refugee-based village health system.
Published in | World Journal of Public Health (Volume 3, Issue 2) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11 |
Page(s) | 32-41 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Refugees, Urban Refugees, Community Based Health Care, Integrated Health Care, Parallel Health Care, Accessibility
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APA Style
Julius Kasozi, Gloria Kirungi Kasozi, Roy William Mayega, Christopher Garimoi Orach. (2018). Access to Health Care by Urban Refugees and Surrounding Host Population in Uganda. World Journal of Public Health, 3(2), 32-41. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11
ACS Style
Julius Kasozi; Gloria Kirungi Kasozi; Roy William Mayega; Christopher Garimoi Orach. Access to Health Care by Urban Refugees and Surrounding Host Population in Uganda. World J. Public Health 2018, 3(2), 32-41. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11
AMA Style
Julius Kasozi, Gloria Kirungi Kasozi, Roy William Mayega, Christopher Garimoi Orach. Access to Health Care by Urban Refugees and Surrounding Host Population in Uganda. World J Public Health. 2018;3(2):32-41. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11
@article{10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11, author = {Julius Kasozi and Gloria Kirungi Kasozi and Roy William Mayega and Christopher Garimoi Orach}, title = {Access to Health Care by Urban Refugees and Surrounding Host Population in Uganda}, journal = {World Journal of Public Health}, volume = {3}, number = {2}, pages = {32-41}, doi = {10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.wjph.20180302.11}, abstract = {Uganda hosts an estimated 34,200 urban refugees who are living within the peri-urban areas among nationals in Kampala city. The study assessed factors that affect access to health services by the urban refugees and host communities. A cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2011 and June 2012 employing qualitative and quantitative techniques of data collection. Using structured questionnaires and guides, 944 heads of households interviews who were randomly selected using cluster sampling, 6 key informant interviews and 2 focus group discussions were conducted. SPSS, STATA and manifest-content analysis was used for analysis. The factors found to promote access to health services for refugees and host communities were availability of health facilities, (91.2%, 229/246) for refugees compared to (97.8%, 220/224) for nationals (OR = 2.61; 95%CI 1.36-5.03; p<0.05); and geographical accessibility to health facilities within a 5 km distance, (75.6%, 291/384) for refugees compared to (95.5%, 340/356) for nationals (OR=1.64; 95%1.25-2.16; p=0.000). Access was hindered by affordability of health services, refugees (44.9%, 173/385) compared to nationals (80.9%, 288/356) (OR = 4.68; 95%CI 3.33-6.59; p<0.05) and temporal accessibility of health services, refugees (23.5%, 53/226) compared to nationals (67.4%, 203/301) (OR = 2.61; 95%CI 1.36-5.03; p<0.05). Nationals (55.7%, 234/420) compared to refugees (21.3%, 76/356) (OR=0.41; 95%CI 0.23-0.73; p=0.003) perceived health services provided by the public facilities as good. Access to health care by urban refugees is enhanced by availability of and the proximity to health facilities while it is hindered by cost of health care, long-waiting time and low acceptability of the services. Refugees have a poorer perception towards the quality of health services compared to nationals. There is need to invest in the availability of comprehensive health services, demand creation initiatives, refugee skills trainings and income generating activities, establishment of a refugee buddy-system to facilitate communication and institutionalization of a refugee-based village health system.}, year = {2018} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Access to Health Care by Urban Refugees and Surrounding Host Population in Uganda AU - Julius Kasozi AU - Gloria Kirungi Kasozi AU - Roy William Mayega AU - Christopher Garimoi Orach Y1 - 2018/05/19 PY - 2018 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11 DO - 10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11 T2 - World Journal of Public Health JF - World Journal of Public Health JO - World Journal of Public Health SP - 32 EP - 41 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2637-6059 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20180302.11 AB - Uganda hosts an estimated 34,200 urban refugees who are living within the peri-urban areas among nationals in Kampala city. The study assessed factors that affect access to health services by the urban refugees and host communities. A cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2011 and June 2012 employing qualitative and quantitative techniques of data collection. Using structured questionnaires and guides, 944 heads of households interviews who were randomly selected using cluster sampling, 6 key informant interviews and 2 focus group discussions were conducted. SPSS, STATA and manifest-content analysis was used for analysis. The factors found to promote access to health services for refugees and host communities were availability of health facilities, (91.2%, 229/246) for refugees compared to (97.8%, 220/224) for nationals (OR = 2.61; 95%CI 1.36-5.03; p<0.05); and geographical accessibility to health facilities within a 5 km distance, (75.6%, 291/384) for refugees compared to (95.5%, 340/356) for nationals (OR=1.64; 95%1.25-2.16; p=0.000). Access was hindered by affordability of health services, refugees (44.9%, 173/385) compared to nationals (80.9%, 288/356) (OR = 4.68; 95%CI 3.33-6.59; p<0.05) and temporal accessibility of health services, refugees (23.5%, 53/226) compared to nationals (67.4%, 203/301) (OR = 2.61; 95%CI 1.36-5.03; p<0.05). Nationals (55.7%, 234/420) compared to refugees (21.3%, 76/356) (OR=0.41; 95%CI 0.23-0.73; p=0.003) perceived health services provided by the public facilities as good. Access to health care by urban refugees is enhanced by availability of and the proximity to health facilities while it is hindered by cost of health care, long-waiting time and low acceptability of the services. Refugees have a poorer perception towards the quality of health services compared to nationals. There is need to invest in the availability of comprehensive health services, demand creation initiatives, refugee skills trainings and income generating activities, establishment of a refugee buddy-system to facilitate communication and institutionalization of a refugee-based village health system. VL - 3 IS - 2 ER -