Revisiting the Andersen Model: Transnational Ties With the Home Country and Healthcare Utilization Among Chinese International Students in South Korea

The present study aimed to understand how Chinese international students perceived and experience healthcare utilization in Korea and to broaden Andersen's framework in the age of globalization, allowing easier maintenance of transnational relationships with one's native country. We analyzed the in-depth personal interviews with 31 Chinese international students. The grounded theory was employed to analyze the interview data. Among factors suggested by Andersen, predisposing (perceptions about the Korean healthcare system) and enabling (financial barriers, language barriers, and lack of social support) factors contributed to healthcare utilization among Chinese international students in Korea. Self-medication via broad medical transnational ties with the home country (bringing medications from home) impeded their healthcare utilization. We highlighted the roles of their campus health center to promote optimal healthcare utilization for Chinese international students. It is important to educate international students about the risks or negative effects of self-medication. This study aimed to understand how Chinese international students viewed and used healthcare in Korea. The researchers interviewed 31 students in-depth and used a grounded theory approach to analyze the data. They found that the students' perceptions of the Korean healthcare system, financial barriers, language barriers, and lack of social support affected their use of healthcare. Bringing medications from their home country hindered their use of healthcare. The study highlighted the importance of campus health centers in promoting optimal healthcare utilization for Chinese international students and recommended educating them about the risks of self-medication. The study extended Andersen's framework in the era of globalization to facilitate maintaining transnational relationships with one's home country.