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Original Research
An evaluation of a health screening program for migrant women to Taiwan, China
  1. Yu-Chu Huang1,
  2. Nigel Joseph Mathers2,
  3. Su-Lih Chia3,
  4. Ming-Neng Shiu4 and
  5. Shu-Chen Kao5
  1. 1.Professor of Nursing, Fu-Jen Catholic University – Department of Nursing, No. 510 Zhingzheng Road Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City 24205, Taiwan, Province of China
  2. 2.Professor of Primary Medical Care and Head of Academic Unit of Primary Medical Care, The University of Sheffield, Samuel Fox House Northern General Hospital Herries Road, Sheffield S5 7AU, UK
  3. 3.Section Chief, The Executive Yuan – Cancer Control and Prevention Division, No 1, Sec 1, Zhengxiao E Road Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 10058, Taiwan, Province of China
  4. 4.Director General, The Executive Yuan – Bureau of Medical Affair, No 1, Sec 1, Zhengxiao E Road Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 10058, Taiwan, Province of China
  5. 5.Chief Secretary, Taipei City Government – Department of Health, 1 City Hall Road Xinyi District, New Taipei City 11008, Taiwan, Province of China
  1. Corresponding author: Yu-Chu Huang, PhD, MMSci, BsN, Professor of Nursing, Fu-Jen Catholic University – Department of Nursing, No. 510 Zhingzheng Road Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City 24205, Taiwan, Province of China, E-mail: 049719{at}mail.fju.edu.tw

Abstract

Objective We aimed to evaluate an integrated screening program for female migrants to Taiwan.

Method We performed a mixed methodological evaluation of a public health nurse (PHN)-led intervention to promote an integrated screening program for female migrants to Taiwan. The clinical case yield was determined by an audit, and staff/client questionnaires were used for the evaluation. Screening comprised surveillance for four untreated chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis, and liver disease), four cancers (mouth, bowel, liver, and cervix), parasitic infection, and hyperlipidemia.

Results Three hundred and thirty-six PHNs and 4751 immigrant women – with an average age of 29.2 years, most of whom were from Vietnam (44%) or mainland China (41%) – took part in the programme. Two thirds of screened women had no abnormalities. Further investigation was required in 1523 women, of whom 1220 were found to have significant disease. The majority of 280 PHNs (85%) found the content, processes, and waiting time to be ‘highly acceptable’ and thought the program was worthwhile and could be incorporated into standard care.

Conclusions The Taipei County Comprehensive Health Screening Programme provided an accessible, free-of-charge, and preventative intervention for female migrants to Taiwan and had a good clinical case yield.

  • Women’s health
  • female migrant health
  • health screening

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.15212/FMCH.2015.0149

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