Table 5 Barriers in seeking health care
Barriers | Descriptions | |
|---|---|---|
Worksites | Villages | |
Health facility barriers | ||
Inaccessible to formal health service facilities | Insufficient numbers of government health staff and worksite locating in hard-to-reach area | Insufficient numbers of government health staff |
Unavailability of diagnostic test | No experience of getting diagnostic services | Same as mentioned in worksites |
Poor communication by health staff | No language barriers with government health staff | Local residents have language barriers in communicating with Burmese health staff, which often leads to misunderstanding between health providers and patients |
Self-barriers | ||
Fear and trust | Fear of visiting health service providers and prior no experience at health care facility, and prior negative experience causes them to delay seeking care at formal health facility | Fear of visiting health service providers, language barriers, no prior experience at health care facility, and prior negative experience caused them to delay seeking care at formal health facility Moreover, villagers did not have trust on community volunteers trained by government and /or non-governmental organizations |
Socio-economic barriers | ||
Financial difficulties and work nature | Mostly were seasonal workers and daily-based ones, with no spare money to be able to afford both transportation and medical charges at formal health care facilities. Daily-based workers were often reluctant to take a leave from work for their income, so mostly relied on self-medication or nearby drug shop | Same as mentioned in worksites |
Limited health knowledge | Limited access to health education activities and negative perceptions towards health education talks | Same as mentioned in worksites |
Location barriers | ||
Hard-to-reach area | Mostly located in hard-to-reach area, devastated road condition and often needed multiple modes of transport to reach health centres | Same as mentioned in worksites |
Insecurity by frequent armed conflicts | Insecure on the way to health facility Restricted workers not to go beyond the worksite compound due to frequent armed conflicts and worksite nature | Insecure on the way to health facility Village authorities must ask permission from armed conflict groups to use the way to health facility |