Carrying Bangladesh with Them: How Pre-Migration Healthcare Norms Shape Bangladeshi Immigrants’ Health-Seeking in the United States

Bangladeshi immigrants are a rapidly growing U.S. immigrant population, yet little is known about how pre-migration healthcare experiences shape healthcare use after migration. This qualitative study explored how healthcare norms from Bangladesh influence Bangladeshi immigrants’ health-seeking behaviors in the U.S., the barriers and facilitators they encounter, and their perceptions of care quality. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 Bangladeshi-born adults living in the U.S. from September 2020 to January 2021 and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Participants described healthcare expectations shaped by Bangladesh’s out-of-pocket, resource-limited system, including symptom-driven rather than preventive care, self-treatment, and family-based caregiving. In the U.S., they faced barriers such as insurance confusion, long waits, difficulty establishing care, coverage disruptions, financial concerns, and language challenges. While participants valued culturally and linguistically concordant care, preferences for Bangla-speaking or co-ethnic providers varied, especially when perceived quality was low. Community networks, online information, self-education, and self-advocacy helped facilitate care. Provider communication strongly shaped perceptions of U.S. healthcare: feeling heard, respected, and well-informed promoted trust, while dismissal or delayed diagnosis led to skepticism and avoidance. These findings suggest that Bangladeshi immigrants’ healthcare engagement is shaped by both structural barriers and pre-migration norms. Improving access will require attention to subgroup-specific histories, insurance navigation, language access, and the relational quality of care.