Who takes part in a cross sectional survey on health care service utilisation among Turkish and German nationals in Germany?
Who takes part in a cross sectional survey on health care service utilisation among Turkish and German nationals in Germany?

Author(s): Ulrike Zier, Stephan Letzel
Subject(s): Politics, Welfare systems, Health and medicine and law, Migration Studies, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Germany; Turkish and German nationals; health care service; cross sectional survey;
Summary/Abstract: Socio-cultural aspects of health such as understanding of sickness and health, or symptom awareness are likely to influence health care utilisation as well as system knowledge or financial and communicational obstacles to health care access. In a multicultural society like Germany, health care services and policy regulation have to take this issue into account, in order to provide equal access. The share of inhabitants with foreign nationalities has risen from 1.2% (0.7 million) in 1961 to 9.5% (7.6 million) in 2013 (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2014a, p. 27-37). Most foreign nationals in Germany are Turkish citizens. They make up a share of 20.3% of all foreign nationals and 1.9% of all inhabitants. Even though health care utilisation is an important means of maintaining and restoring personal health, the question of whether different socio-cultural patterns exist has not been addressed comprehensively by previous research in Germany. Only a few studies on specific aspects of the topic exist and mention barriers in health care access (e.g. Bermejo, Hölzel, Kriston, & Härter, 2012; Robert Koch Institut, 2008). With our survey we cover a broad range of research questions on general health care utilisation practices in a representative population sample of Turkish and German nationals.

• Details
• Contents