Access to health services experiences of Syrians in Turkey

The aim of this study is to examine in depth the views and experiences of Syrians living in Turkey on access to health services. This study was conducted in a descriptive design with a phenomenological research approach, one of the qualitative research designs. The research was conducted in Adana, one of the provinces where the Syrian population is densely populated. The data of the study were collected through face-to-face interviews with the participants using in-depth individual interview technique, one of the qualitative research methods. In this study, snowball sampling technique, one of the purposeful sampling methods frequently used in qualitative research, was used. As a result of the individual in-depth interviews conducted with 17 participants in total, the data collection process was completed by evaluating that data saturation was reached. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher. The data obtained in the study were analysed using content analysis method. In this evaluation process, the 'stages of descriptive phenomenological analysis method' developed by Colaizzi (1978) were applied. As a result of the analysis, three main themes were identified: 'Attitude towards Disease', 'Situations Encountered While Receiving Health Services' and 'Differences in the Turkish-Syrian Health System'. It was determined that the participants' preference of health institutions varied according to the severity of the disease, the most important common problem of all participants was communication difficulties, but there were also problems such as crowded health institutions, identity problems (not being in Temporary Protection Status), referral procedures and discrimination, they were satisfied with the attitudes and behaviours of health workers, the efficiency of the appointment system and the systematic and free health services, and they defined the health system in Turkey as more developed compared to the health system in Syria. Keywords: Syrian, Migrant, Asylum Seeker, Access to Health Services, Experience