Foreign Residents in Taiwan: Qualitative Insights into Healthcare Seeking Experiences

Ewa Zuzanna Krzyż; Hsueh-Fen Chen; Whei-Mei Shih; Mei-Hsiang Lin; Chieh-Yu Liu; Kuo-Feng Wu; Hung-Ru Lin

doi:10.1007/s40615-025-02427-4

Foreign Residents in Taiwan: Qualitative Insights into Healthcare Seeking Experiences

J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2025 Apr 14. doi: 10.1007/s40615-025-02427-4. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ewa Zuzanna Krzyż^{1

2}, Hsueh-Fen Chen³, Whei-Mei Shih⁴, Mei-Hsiang Lin¹, Chieh-Yu Liu⁵, Kuo-Feng Wu⁶, Hung-Ru Lin⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan.
² School of Nursing, College of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Department of Healthcare Administration and Medical Informatics, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Gerontology and Health Care Management, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
⁵ Institute of Community Health Care, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Business Administration, National Taipei University of Business, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ School of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan. hungru@ntunhs.edu.tw.

PMID: 40227377
DOI: 10.1007/s40615-025-02427-4

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the healthcare seeking experiences of foreign residents in Taiwan.

Design: We adopted a qualitative phenomenological approach in which in depth, face-to-face interviews with participants were conducted. We collected and analyzed data from 20 interviews via Colaizzi's method. Our participants were diverse in terms of age, sex, nationality, primary language, occupation, duration of stay abroad, and city of residence in Taiwan.

Results: Our analysis identified six key themes: major health conditions, factors influencing decision-making in healthcare seeking, enablers of healthcare seeking, barriers to healthcare seeking, integrative healthcare seeking, and satisfaction with healthcare-seeking experiences. We also propose a framework for understanding these themes. Notably, our study revealed the existence of health inequalities among migrant caregivers in Taiwan.

Conclusion: In conclusion, this research demonstrates that Taiwan's healthcare policy generally accommodates foreigners. However, policymakers and healthcare providers need to pay more attention to the work environment and cultural differences to better support foreign residents and enhance appropriate and equitable healthcare access.

Keywords: Foreigners; Health Inequality; Healthcare Seeking Experience; Qualitative; Taiwan.