Dialect culture and the utilization of public health service by rural migrants: Insights from China

Abstract

The right to health is a fundamental human right for human beings to live in dignity. Everyone has the right to enjoy the fair and accessible highest standard of health by utilizing public health services. However, access to essential public health services also highly depends on the dialect culture. It is believed that the dialect culture also influences the efficiency of public health policies. To explore the phenomenon empirically, the current study utilized data sourced from geographical distribution information of Chinese dialects and the China Migrants Dynamic Survey for 2017. The study employed the Probit, IVprobit, and Eprobit models to estimate the impact of dialect culture on migrants' use of public health services. The findings revealed that the dialect culture significantly hinders the migrants' utilization of public health services. Further, by employing heterogeneity analysis, the findings revealed that the results are more pronounced in migrants, born after 1980, and are female with low educational background and also those migrants having local medical experiences and moving toward non-provincial cities. Finally to explore the mechanism of dialect culture influencing migrants' public health service, the study employed mediation analysis and KHB Method. The findings revealed that information transmission, health habits, social capital, and cultural identity are the potential pathways influencing the migrants' use of public health services. The findings conclude that rural-to-urban migrants' access to public health services is influenced by their cultural adaptation. Hence, the study proposes that the government should amend the policy inefficiency concerns caused by cultural differences and strengthen the regional cultural exchanges to build trust.

Effect of health rights accessibility on the urban integration of minority rural migrants in China: a cross-sectional study

“…Secondly, factors such as ethnic culture, lifestyle, medical habits, and language norms may hinder ethnic minority rural migrants from accessing public health benefits and improving the accessibility of public health rights in their destination areas. Zhao et al have also highlighted the cultural barriers to health equity faced by rural migrants across dialectal regions [ 12 ]. Hence, taking a novel perspective on health rights accessibility, this study employs instrumental variable methods, omitted variable tests, and mediation models to systematically examine the overall impact, heterogeneity, and mechanisms of health rights accessibility on the urban integration of minority rural migrants, ultimately obtaining robust and credible research conclusions.…”

“…However, the Suest test results indicate that the promoting effect of health rights accessibility on urban integration is more significant for those migrating within the province. This is mainly because, compared to inter-provincial migrants, minority rural migrants within a province may find it easier to adapt, accept, and utilize the high-quality public service resources of their target urban areas [ 12 , 76 ].…”

“…This means that rural migrants can only enjoy the same rights to public health services as residents after obtaining household registration in their destination cities. In order to improve the accessibility of public health services for rural migrants, enhance their health literacy, and help this group integrate into urban life more effectively [ 12 ]. In recent years, the Chinese government has implemented a series of public health service policies for the floating population, gradually providing equal public health services for rural migrants.…”

“…Research has focused mainly on various aspects of the implementation progress, equalization levels, factors influencing the equalization of public health services, and impacts generated by public health services. In terms of practical outcomes, there is still a certain gap between the awareness and utilization of health rights, including minority rural migrants, and the goals of the basic equalization policy for public health services [ 12 , 17 , 18 ]. Studies based on different survey data consistently confirm that upon arrival, minority rural migrants not only face challenges such as poor living conditions and weak health awareness [ 19 , 20 ] but also relatively low proportions of establishing health records and receiving health education [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Slipping Through the Gap: Exploring the Influence of Social Health Insurance on Access to Healthcare for Older Migrant Workers

“…Simultaneously, OMWs face significant barriers to maintaining employment and experience multiple forms of discrimination based on factors like age and disability [12]. Existing studies have documented that migrant workers are underserved by the healthcare system in their current place of residence and lack sufficient social protection for their health and wellbeing [13][14][15]. However, these studies have not focused on OMWs.…”