Abstract

The provision of effective health care to linguistically and culturally diverse migrant populations has been identified as a crucial public health issue. This scoping review examines strategies which have been implemented and evaluated to address communication barriers experienced by refugees and migrants in health care settings across the WHO European Region. Four main types of strategy were identified: cultural mediation, interpretation, translation of health information, and guidance and training for health care providers. These have been used to support access to health care, management of specific diseases and promotion of health across a wide variety of health care settings. Intersectoral collaboration was seen as important in the development and implementation of strategies. Policy considerations include the development of national policies and the promotion of intersectoral dialogue to augment the knowledge base and resolve the common issues identified, such as provision of training and confusion regarding the roles of mediators/interpreters, that affect strategy implementation and evaluation.

Contents

• ABBREVIATIONS
• CONTRIBUTORS
• SUMMARY
• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1. Background
  • 1.2. Methodology
• 2. RESULTS
  • 2.1. Types of strategy
  • 2.2. Characteristics of implementation
  • 2.3. Effectiveness in reducing communication barriers
• 3. DISCUSSION
  • 3.1. Strengths and limitations of the review
  • 3.2. Strategies in use to address communication barriers
  • 3.3. Further research
  • 3.4. Policy considerations
• 4. CONCLUSIONS
• REFERENCES
• ANNEX 1. SEARCH STRATEGY

Suggested citation:

McGarry O, Hannigan A, Manuela De Almeida M, Severoni S, Puthoopparambil SJ, MacFarlane A. What strategies to address communication barriers for refugees and migrants in health care settings have been implemented and evaluated across the WHO European Region? Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2018 (Health Evidence Network (HEN) synthesis report 62).

The Health Evidence Network (HEN) is an information service for public health decision-makers in the WHO European Region, in action since 2003 and initiated and coordinated by the WHO Regional Office for Europe under the umbrella of the WHO European Health Information Initiative (a multipartner network coordinating all health information activities in the WHO European Region).

HEN supports public health decision-makers to use the best available evidence in their own decision-making and aims to ensure links between evidence, health policies and improvements in public health. The HEN synthesis report series provides summaries of what is known about the policy issue, the gaps in the evidence and the areas of debate. Based on the synthesized evidence, HEN proposes policy considerations, not recommendations, for policy-makers to formulate their own recommendations and policies within their national context.

The Migration and Health programme

The Migration and Health programme, the first fully fledged programme on migration and health at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, was established to support Member States to strengthen the health sector's capacity to provide evidence-informed responses to the public health challenges of refugee and migrant health. The programme operates under the umbrella of the European health policy framework Health 2020, providing support to Member States under four pillars: technical assistance; health information, research and training; partnership building; and advocacy and communication. The programme promotes a collaborative intercountry approach to migrant health by facilitating cross-country policy dialogue and encouraging homogeneous health interventions along the migration routes to promote the health of refugees and migrants and protect public health in the host community. This is the ninth report in themed issues on migration and health. Previous migration and health issues (HEN synthesis reports 42–47, 53 and 56) are available at http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-determinants/migration-and-health/publications/health-evidence-network-hen-synthesis-reports.

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ISSN 2227-4316

ISBN 978 92 890 5350 1

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