Empathy and journey mapping the healthcare experience: a community-based participatory approach to exploring women’s access to primary health services within Melbourne’s Arabic-speaking refugee communities

Objectives: This community-based participatory research focused on physical and social barriers to healthcare for refugee women in Melbourne, Australia.Design: Women from non-English speaking backgrounds explored the meaning and impact of their health journeys through group surveys, Photovoice and GIS go-alongs. This empathy-building research also explored acceptability, desirability and feasibility of mHealth solutions to improve access to primary healthcare services.Results: Refugee women reported low utilisation of preventive healthcare services including limited awareness of cervical or breast screening.Conclusions: Phone ownership and health information searches online indicate mHealth solutions are feasible and acceptable to improve healthcare access, literacy and autonomy within this population.