Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Apr 28;8(2):115.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare8020115.

Community-Based Healthcare for Migrants and Refugees: A Scoping Literature Review of Best Practices

Elena Riza  1 , Shona Kalkman  2 , Alexandra Coritsidis  3 , Sotirios Koubardas  1 , Sofia Vassiliu  1 , Despoina Lazarou  4 , Panagiota Karnaki  5 , Dina Zota  5 , Maria Kantzanou  1 , Theodora Psaltopoulou  1 , Athena Linos  1   5
Affiliations

Community-Based Healthcare for Migrants and Refugees: A Scoping Literature Review of Best Practices

Elena Riza et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Strengthening community-based healthcare is a valuable strategy to reduce health inequalities and improve the integration of migrants and refugees into local communities in the European Union. However, little is known about how to effectively develop and run community-based healthcare models for migrants and refugees. Aiming at identifying the most-promising best practices, we performed a scoping review of the international academic literature into effective community-based healthcare models and interventions for migrants and refugees as part of the Mig-HealthCare project.

Methods: A systematic search in PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus databases was conducted in March 2018 following the PRISMA methodology. Data extraction from eligible publications included information on general study characteristics, a brief description of the intervention/model, and reported outcomes in terms of effectiveness and challenges. Subsequently, we critically assessed the available evidence per type of healthcare service according to specific criteria to establish a shortlist of the most promising best practices.

Results: In total, 118 academic publications were critically reviewed and categorized in the thematic areas of mental health (n = 53), general health services (n = 36), noncommunicable diseases (n = 13), primary healthcare (n = 9), and women's maternal and child health (n = 7).

Conclusion: A set of 15 of the most-promising best practices and tools in community-based healthcare for migrants and refugees were identified that include several intervention approaches per thematic category. The elements of good communication, the linguistic barriers and the cultural differences, played crucial roles in the effective application of the interventions. The close collaboration of the various stakeholders, the local communities, the migrant/refugee communities, and the partnerships is a key element in the successful implementation of primary healthcare provision.

Keywords: community-based healthcare; migrants; refugees best practices; scoping review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders (European Commission) had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram for Mig-HealthCare systematic database search.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Operational Data Portal. [(accessed on 17 April 2020)]; Available online: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean.
    1. Matlin S.A., Depoux A., Schütte S., Flahaust A., Saso L. Migrants’ and refugees’ health: Towards an agenda of solutions. Public Health Rev. 2018;39:27. doi: 10.1186/s40985-018-0104-9. - DOI
    1. WHO Regional Office for Europe Report on the Health of Refugees and Migrants in the WHO European Region. No PUBLIC HEALTH without REFUGEE and MIGRANT HEALTH—Summary. [(accessed on 17 April 2020)];2018 Available online: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/311348/9789289053785-en....
    1. WHO Regional Office for Europe Health Promotion for Improved Refugee and Migrant Health. [(accessed on 14 February 2020)];2018 Copenhagen; (Technical Guidance on Refugee and Migrant Health) Available online: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/388363/tc-health-pro....
    1. MigHelthCare Minimize Health Inequalities and Improve the Integration of Vulnerable Migrants and Refugees into Local Communities. [(accessed on 26 April 2020)]; Available online: https://www.mighealthcare.eu/

Publication types