gms | German Medical Science

Background: Currently, about 1,781,000 protection seeking persons live in Germany. The proportion of women is 37.4%. 51% are women of reproductive age [1]. There is no representative data concerning health status and specific needs of protection seeking women. National and international literature point out a refugee background as a risk factor in physical and psychological health outcomes. Cultural, linguistic, and structural barriers impede access to health care services [2], [3], [4]. It is known that reducing structural barriers does not inevitably lead to an increased use of services. Hence, in designing suitable services for the population, one has to take sociocultural backgrounds into consideration [3], [4]. For this, investigation of cultural and individual characteristics is needed, both from the perspective of providers and the target population. This process could be complicated by obstacles on both sides [5].

Aim/Research Question: Possible approaches to contacting protection seeking women were examined as a basis for developing services that meet the needs and demands of the population. Research questions are:

1.

What are the mechanisms of gaining access to protection seeking women?

2.

How can empirical research with protection seeking women in collaboration with gatekeepers succeed?

Method: Six semi-structured interviews with experts of perinatal care of the target population were conducted in spring 2019. Results were applied to a focus group with five protection seeking women. Paraphrasing transcripts and Mayring`s content analysis were used for data analysis. Approval was given by the ethics committee of Hochschule Osnabrück.

Results: The results show how the initial contact to protection seeking women could be designed with regards to organizational and structural aspects in order to facilitate long term establishment or the realization of empirical research. Interprofessional collaboration is highly important. Appropriate persons for collaboration and dissemination were identified. Information should be provided in a manner that takes into consideration the characteristics of the women. Furthermore, results point out success factors and barriers in contact with protection seeking women. Beside structural conditions, attitude and personal background are significant, both on the part of providers and the target population. It is notable that midwives can contribute as gatekeepers in gaining access to protection seeking women for empirical research as well as for providing special services.

Recommendations: Gaining access to protection seeking women should be undertaken in five steps:

1.

Identification of gatekeepers

2.

Organization of structural framework (e.g. format, language mediation)

3.

Identification of disseminators

4.

Designing the initial contact/ Presentation of the project

5.

Promoting long term establishment/ Realization of the project.

The results could be applied to empirical research with protection seeking women. In designing services, one should take into consideration the needs and demands identified from the perspective of the target population.

Ethics and conflicts of interest: An ethics vote has been obtained. The research was financed by own resources. There are no conflicts of interest.