Health, illness and healthcare-seeking behaviour of the street dwellers of Dhaka City, Bangladesh: qualitative exploratory study

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the illness experiences and healthcare-seeking behaviour of a cross-section of street dwellers of Dhaka City for designing a customised intervention. DESIGN: A qualitative exploratory study of a sample of street dwellers of Dhaka City. SETTING: Samples were taken from three purposively selected spots of Dhaka City with a high concentration of the target population. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen in-depth interviews and six informal group discussions with 40 street dwellers (≥18 years), and key informant interviews with service providers (n=6) and policymakers (n=3) were conducted during January-June 2019 to elicit necessary data. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Qualitative narrative of illness experiences of the sampled street dwellers, relevant healthcare-seeking behaviour and experiences of interactions with health systems. RESULTS: We focused on…