Removing barriers to healthcare through an intercultural healthcare system: Focus group evidence

Abstract Objective Barriers to healthcare in Ghana are multifaceted. Many people, including patients and providers, face them at different levels. To address these barriers, there is a need to explore the role of an intercultural healthcare system. This paper explores and provides the first evidence on ways through which an intercultural healthcare system can reduce the sociocultural and economic barriers to healthcare in Ghana. Methods Focus group discussions with 35 participants comprising 17 healthcare users, 11 formal healthcare providers and 7 alternative healthcare providers were conducted to gather data. Thematic analyses were performed on the transcribed data and presented based on a posteriori inductive reduction approach. Results Findings reveal that an intercultural healthcare system in Ghana can help reduce barriers to healthcare, especially cultural, social and economic barriers, by fostering an enhanced relationship between culture and healthcare, promoting affordable healthcare and promoting effective communication between healthcare providers and users. Weak institutional support, lack of strong political will and commitment, lack of training to meet standards of practice, poor registration and regulatory measures, inadequate general acceptance by biomedical providers and a perceived negative perception of the intercultural healthcare policy inhibit implementation of an intercultural healthcare system in Ghana. Conclusion The support for intercultural healthcare system and the agreement on its perceived ability to reduce social, cultural and economic healthcare barriers for service users offer an opportunity for policy makers to demonstrate a stronger political will and improved political commitment for effective education and training, enforcement of regulatory measures, improved alternative medical literacy through the inclusion of intercultural healthcare medical school curricula across the country, and ensure increased community engagement.