TY - JOUR
AU - U. Kolinska
AU - R. Piers
AU - D. Karadzhov
A1 - 
AB - PURPOSE: International university students (ISs) experience elevated rates of psychological distress due to the unique challenges of living and studying in a new country. Nonetheless, their utilisation of mental health services tends to be low. This study aimed to explore ISs' experiences of help-seeking via the Scottish primary healthcare services. METHODS: A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed. The sample included nine female ISs from a range of cultural backgrounds, who sought mental health support from the Scottish primary healthcare services within the previous year. RESULTS: Participants' help-seeking experiences, contextualised within the challenging, liminal reality of living and studying in Scotland as an IS, were hindered by challenges with navigating two healthcare systems simultaneously and culturally-mediated attitudes towards mental health. Positive and negative experiences of patient-GP interactions had a considerable impact on participants' subsequent help-seeking endeavours. CONCLUSIONS: Transnational and relational lenses are key for understanding ISs' help-seeking. Beyond individual factors, help-seeking trajectories hinge on perceived quality of patient-doctor relationships and the accessibility of both local and home-country systems. These findings highlight the need for universities to implement targeted mental wellbeing interventions for ISs, and primary care to improve the quality patient-GP interactions.
AD - School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.; School of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
AN - 41176710
BT - Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being
C5 - Healthcare Disparities
CP - 1
DA - Dec 31
DO - 10.1080/17482631.2025.2572518
DP - NLM
ET - 20251102
IS - 1
JF - Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being
LA - eng
N2 - PURPOSE: International university students (ISs) experience elevated rates of psychological distress due to the unique challenges of living and studying in a new country. Nonetheless, their utilisation of mental health services tends to be low. This study aimed to explore ISs' experiences of help-seeking via the Scottish primary healthcare services. METHODS: A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed. The sample included nine female ISs from a range of cultural backgrounds, who sought mental health support from the Scottish primary healthcare services within the previous year. RESULTS: Participants' help-seeking experiences, contextualised within the challenging, liminal reality of living and studying in Scotland as an IS, were hindered by challenges with navigating two healthcare systems simultaneously and culturally-mediated attitudes towards mental health. Positive and negative experiences of patient-GP interactions had a considerable impact on participants' subsequent help-seeking endeavours. CONCLUSIONS: Transnational and relational lenses are key for understanding ISs' help-seeking. Beyond individual factors, help-seeking trajectories hinge on perceived quality of patient-doctor relationships and the accessibility of both local and home-country systems. These findings highlight the need for universities to implement targeted mental wellbeing interventions for ISs, and primary care to improve the quality patient-GP interactions.
PY - 2025
SN - 1748-2623 (Print); 1748-2623
SP - 2572518
ST - "You feel hopeless when you can't access healthcare": International students' experiences of mental health help-seeking through primary healthcare services in Scotland
T1 - "You feel hopeless when you can't access healthcare": International students' experiences of mental health help-seeking through primary healthcare services in Scotland
T2 - Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being
TI - "You feel hopeless when you can't access healthcare": International students' experiences of mental health help-seeking through primary healthcare services in Scotland
U1 - Healthcare Disparities
U3 - 10.1080/17482631.2025.2572518
VL - 20
VO - 1748-2623 (Print); 1748-2623
Y1 - 2025
ER -