This systematic narrative review of qualitative studies examined health service barriers and facilitators in Australia for refugees after resettlement. Twelve qualitative studies published between 2006 and 2017 involving more than 500 participants were included in the review. Approximately half of all participants were healthcare professionals. A meta-synthesis approach was used to compare and combine findings from across studies. Few facilitators were identified. Barriers to accessing health services were commonly attributed to refugees, but several barriers were associated with healthcare professionals and health services. Barriers attributed to healthcare professionals included gaps in knowledge and skills poor cultural competency poor communication skills and time constraints. Understanding such barriers is the first step in developing strategies to overcome them. The skills and knowledge of healthcare professionals are important to facilitating access to healthcare among this vulnerable population. © 2019 La Trobe University.

Service access Access to healthcare Asylum seeker Health-seeking behaviour

male vulnerable population female narrative Review communication skill Australia cultural competence systematic review qualitative research health care utilization asylum seeker human adult human experiment synthesis