Utilisation of Australian health care services by ethnic Chinese

Abstract

Australia is a multicultural society in which migrants from non-English-speakingbackgrounds may be more vulnerable to illness after their new settlement, andlanguage difficulties and cultural differences may affect their use of health services.The present qualitative study used focus group interviews to explore the health servicesused by Chinese migrants from Hong Kong and China. The general findings includedstrong preference for Chinese-speaking general practitioners, insufficient interpreterservices, low use of preventive services, and lack of knowledge about the existence androle of ethnic health workers. The paper reports specific differences between migrantsfrom China and Hong Kong, and by age group. It discusses reasons for these findingsand notes the implications.