New migrants' access to primary healthcare services in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Aim: To explore new migrants' access to primary healthcare services in the first 10 years after arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Methods: Data come from three New Zealand Health Surveys (2014/2015, 2015/2016 and 2016/2017), which each sampled around 13,500 people, aged 15+ years, who were usual residents of Aotearoa New Zealand. Respondents who said they were born overseas were asked the first year they had come to Aotearoa New Zealand. Those who had arrived in the 10 years before their survey was completed were considered new migrants. The survey data were pooled and around 3,700 respondents were estimated to fit this category. Log-linear models, with adjustments for age, sex, ethnicity and New Zealand Deprivation Index, were used to look at last year use of primary healthcare.

Results: Overall, new migrants used primary healthcare similarly to other New Zealanders. They were more likely to have comprehensive health insurance and paid more for GP visits upon arrival but acted similarly to other New Zealanders after 4 years.

Conclusion: Generally, new migrants-after adjusting for covariates-appear to be accessing primary healthcare services in a similar manner to other New Zealanders, on average, soon after arrival.