Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Dec 19, 2025
Date Accepted: Jul 13, 2026
Addressing Barriers to Healthcare Access and Their Impact on Social Cohesion Among Rohingya Refugees, and Host Community in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study Protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Access to healthcare remains a critical issue in protracted forced displacement contexts globally. In Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, the co-existence of Rohingya refugees and local host communities for many years has generated complex healthcare dynamics. While humanitarian interventions have increased service availability for refugees, barriers still persist and disparities in healthcare access between refugees and host populations exist.
Objective:
This qualitative study aims to understand the experiences and coping strategies of refugees, host community members, and healthcare providers involved in accessing and delivering healthcare services and to explore how these dynamics influence social cohesion between the two communities.
Methods:
The study will recruit participants through purposive sampling and employ semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis approach.
Results:
In this study, we plan to conduct in-depth interviews (IDI) with healthcare providers and conduct FGDs with Rohingya refugee and host community members. Each IDI and FGD will be guided by guides developed from prior studies and contextual insights. Ethical approval has been obtained from Sweden and Bangladesh.
Conclusions:
Guided by a critical realist paradigm, this study is grounded in the understanding that individuals’ lived experiences of accessing and delivering healthcare are shaped by deeper social, structural, and institutional mechanisms that may not be immediately visible. The integration of multiple participant groups, i.e., refugees, host community members, and healthcare providers, allows for a nuanced understanding of intersecting challenges and enablers in healthcare delivery in Cox’s Bazar. Additionally, by exploring how disparities in healthcare access affect perceptions of inequalities, the study will shed light on the broader implications for social cohesion between these coexisting communities. Findings will help inform future strategies to improve equitable healthcare delivery and policies in displacement-affected regions
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.