Abstract

Objective: to analyse the barriers faced by international migrants when using Primary Care services in the commune of Antofagasta, Chile. Method: a qualitative research design with an interpretative phenomenological-descriptive approach. Convenience and snowball sampling was used until the saturation point was reached. The sample was formed by 42 >18-year-old persons (civil servants and migrants). Semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted. Reflexive-thematic analysis was used for data analysis, with open coding for subsequent category building. The quality criteria used were triangulation, confirmability and reflectivity. Results: the dimensions identified by the health civil servants were: acceptability of the other, language, and racialization otherness. The international migrants highlighted language, discriminatory treatment, and difficulties for access associated with administrative procedures to enrol in the public health system. Moreover, barriers were detected in the daily interactions between health services and migrants, where mutual interpretations of actions played a major role. Conclusions: the current barriers for the use of Primary Care services presented system components associated with policies and rules which in practice are associated with a second component, the individual one, which would be reflected in the daily interactions by civil servants and migrants during the process of care.