Carrying Bangladesh with Them: How Pre-Migration Healthcare Norms Shape Bangladeshi Immigrants' Health-Seeking in the United States
- 1Washington University in St. Louis
Abstract
Bangladeshi immigrants are a rapidly growing U.S. immigrant population, yet little is known about how pre-migration healthcare experiences shape healthcare use after migration. This qualitative study explored how healthcare norms from Bangladesh influence Bangladeshi immigrants health-seeking behaviors in the U.S., the barriers and facilitators they encounter, and their perceptions of care quality. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 Bangladeshi-born adults living in the U.S. from September 2020 to January 2021 and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Participants described healthcare expectations shaped by Bangladeshs out-of-pocket, resource-limited system, including symptom-driven rather than preventive care, self-treatment, and family-based caregiving. In the U.S., they faced barriers such as insurance confusion, long waits, difficulty establishing care, coverage disruptions, financial concerns, and language challenges. While participants valued culturally and linguistically concordant care, preferences for Bangla-speaking or co-ethnic providers varied, especially when perceived quality was low. Community networks, online information, self-education, and self-advocacy helped facilitate care. Provider communication strongly shaped perceptions of U.S. healthcare: feeling heard, respected, and well-informed promoted trust, while dismissal or delayed diagnosis led to skepticism and avoidance. These findings suggest that Bangladeshi immigrants healthcare engagement is shaped by both structural barriers and pre-migration norms. Improving access will require attention to subgroup-specific histories, insurance navigation, language access, and the relational quality of care.
Related
- Trends, patterns, determinants and socio-economic inequality of high-risk fertility behavior (HRFB) among Bangladeshi women: Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys
- Using the Social Ecological Model to identify barriers to accessing and using primary healthcare services by the rural Bangladeshi elderly: A systematic review
- Language, perceived discrimination and barriers to complaint use: sub-Saharan African immigrants' healthcare experiences in Oslo, a qualitative interview study
- Moving towards integrated people-centred primary healthcare for non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh: a qualitative study
- Anaemia Prevalence, Severity and Sex Disparities Among Healthcare‐Seeking Adults in Rural Chattogram Division, Bangladesh: Evidence From a Community‐Based Portable Health Clinic Programme
BibTeX
@misc{raisa2026carrying,
title = {{Carrying Bangladesh with Them: How Pre-Migration Healthcare Norms Shape Bangladeshi Immigrants' Health-Seeking in the United States}},
author = {A. Raisa and A. H. Vu},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.07.26364503},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.26364503v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Carrying Bangladesh with Them: How Pre-Migration Healthcare Norms Shape Bangladeshi Immigrants' Health-Seeking in the United States
AU - A. Raisa
AU - A. H. Vu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.07.26364503
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.26364503v1
AB - Bangladeshi immigrants are a rapidly growing U.S. immigrant population, yet little is known about how pre-migration healthcare experiences shape healthcare use after migration. This qualitative study explored how healthcare norms from Bangladesh influence Bangladeshi immigrants health-seeking behaviors in the U.S., the barriers and facilitators they encounter, and their perceptions of care quality. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 Bangladeshi-born adults living in the U.S. from September 2020 to January 2021 and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Participants described healthcare expectations shaped by Bangladeshs out-of-pocket, resource-limited system, including symptom-driven rather than preventive care, self-treatment, and family-based caregiving. In the U.S., they faced barriers such as insurance confusion, long waits, difficulty establishing care, coverage disruptions, financial concerns, and language challenges. While participants valued culturally and linguistically concordant care, preferences for Bangla-speaking or co-ethnic providers varied, especially when perceived quality was low. Community networks, online information, self-education, and self-advocacy helped facilitate care. Provider communication strongly shaped perceptions of U.S. healthcare: feeling heard, respected, and well-informed promoted trust, while dismissal or delayed diagnosis led to skepticism and avoidance. These findings suggest that Bangladeshi immigrants healthcare engagement is shaped by both structural barriers and pre-migration norms. Improving access will require attention to subgroup-specific histories, insurance navigation, language access, and the relational quality of care.
ER -