Forced migrants are at risk of developing mental illness, yet challenges remain with underutilization of mental healthcare among this population. This study examined the implementation of the Refugee Health Screener-13 (RHS-13) in the health assessment for forced migrants in eight primary health care centres in Stockholm Region, Sweden.
A mixed-methods convergent parallel design was used, combining nurses self-reported quantitative data on the levels and reasons for RHS-13 use in the health assessment with qualitative interview data on the barriers and facilitators for RHS-13 use. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used as a coding framework for the qualitative analysis.
Levels of RHS-13 use varied between primary health care centres, resulting in two groups: three centres with high-level (65–92%) and five centres with low-level (0–36%) implementation. Factors related to the tool itself, as well as the inner and outer context, influenced the use of RHS-13. Language barriers, insufficient time, and lack of trust in the validity and utility of RHS-13 were the main barriers, while its availability in many languages and that it was perceived as an important complement to the health assessment were the main facilitators.
RHS-13 contributes to the standardization of assessing mental health in the health assessment. Identifying context-based implementation strategies and addressing language and time issues as well as nurses trust in the tool's utility are recommended to enhance the use of RHS-13.
United States (US) immigrant populations face unique barriers to accessing health care, including reproductive health care. Abortion access and experiences among immigrant populations in the US are not well understood.
We conducted a systematic review to synthesize existing literature about US immigrant populations’ access to and use of abortion services. Eight studies met the eligibility criteria, which included being published in English and presenting at least one finding relevant to US immigrant populations’ access to or experience utilizing abortion; key findings were identified using content analysis.
We present results organized within three main categories: (1) overall rates of abortion among immigrant versus US-born individuals, (2) characteristics of US immigrants who receive abortion services, and (3) barriers to abortion access for US immigrant populations, which included concepts pertaining to discrimination, challenges navigating the healthcare systems, and lack of knowledge about legal rights.
Study findings illustrate three categories of results relevant to immigrant experiences accessing abortion care in the US, including revealing barriers to abortion services rooted in lack of knowledge of US institutional systems and mistreatment in clinical and legal settings due to race or immigration status. Further research is needed to better understand nuances in experiences among immigrant subpopulations, experiences of US immigrants who speak a language other than English or Spanish, and use of self-managed abortions or abortions in informal settings among US immigrants.
Incidence of sexual violence among recently arrived asylum-seeking women in France (INCIDAVI) is a French study which found a past year incidence of 26 % for postarrival sexual violence (SV) among asylum-seeking women (ASW). It reported that fewer than 1 out of 10 victims consulted a healthcare professional when SV occurred. These findings raise the question of how ASW who have been victims of SV get involved in care. We aimed to explore the mechanisms and obstacles to seeking care in the host country among this population.
This qualitative phase of INCIDAVI was based on a grounded theory approach. Twenty semi structured interviews were conducted between February 1, 2022, and July 29, 2022. The interviews explored the conditions under which women talk about SV, the care pathway in France and the perceived consequences of care. We performed an inductive analysis using NVivo® 14 software.
Life paths of ASW are traversed by SV which influence their health and safety behaviour and can re-expose them to SV. Talking about SV is a rare choice focused on seeking protection. When appropriate care is used, it is perceived as beneficial and leads to a change in the perception of a possible recovery.
The failure of ASW to seek care for SV is shaped by the fact that SV is initially perceived as ordinary. A proactive attitude on the part of carers towards detecting such violence leads to positive experiences of care, which in turn influence women's initial perceptions of SV, enabling them to envisage health recovery.
This study aims, probably for the first time, to compare the fertility intentions of migrants and non-migrants of the same nationality at origin based on their self-rated health, wellbeing, and gender.
The study utilized data from the Families of Poles in the Netherlands (FPN) survey and the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS). This study used Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition models and generalized ordered logit models (gologit).
The findings reveal that both migrants and non-migrants who have good self-rated health and wellbeing are more likely to express a desire to have children in the short-term. The impact of perceived health on the intention to have children is significant for both female and male irrespective of their migration status. Additionally, the average fertility intentions score is higher for Polish migrants residing in the Netherlands compared to Polish non-migrants residing in Poland across the models. The study emphasizes the role good perceived health plays in shaping fertility intentions.