Health Policy
Volume 120, Issue 5, 2016, Pages 495-508

Reducing the health care burden for marginalised migrants: The potential role for primary care in Europe (Review) (Open Access)

O'Donnell C.A.* , Burns N. , Mair F.S. , Dowrick C. , Clissmann C. , van den Muijsenbergh M. , van Weel-Baumgarten E. , Lionis C. , Papadakaki M. , Saridaki A. , de Brun T. , MacFarlane A. , on behalf of the RESTORE Team
  • a General Practice and Primary Care, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, College of MVLS, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
  • b General Practice and Primary Care, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, College of MVLS, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom, Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
  • c General Practice and Primary Care, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, College of MVLS, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
  • d Psychological Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
  • e Pintail Ltd, Dublin, Ireland
  • f Department of Primary Care and Community Care, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • g Department of Primary Care and Community Care, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • h Clinic of Social and Family Medicine, University of Crete Medical School, Crete, Greece
  • i Clinic of Social and Family Medicine, University of Crete Medical School, Crete, Greece
  • j Clinic of Social and Family Medicine, University of Crete Medical School, Crete, Greece
  • k National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
  • l Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
  • m [Affiliation not available]

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the health of migrants worldwide. Migrants, particularly those in marginalised situations, face significant barriers and inequities in entitlement and access to high quality health care. This study aimed to explore the potential role of primary care in mitigating such barriers and identify ways in which health care policies and systems can influence the ability of primary care to meet the needs of vulnerable and marginalised migrants. The study compared routinely available country-level data on health system structure and financing, policy support for language and communication, and barriers and facilitators to health care access reported in the published literature. These were then mapped to a framework of primary care systems to identify where the key features mitigating or amplifying barriers to access lay. Reflecting on the data generated, we argue that culturally-sensitive primary care can play a key role in delivering accessible, high-quality care to migrants in vulnerable situations. Policymakers and practitioners need to appreciate that both individual patient capacity, and the way health care systems are configured and funded, can constrain access to care and have a negative impact on the quality of care that practitioners can provide to such populations. Strategies to address these issues, from the level of policy through to practice, are urgently needed. © 2016 The Authors.

Author Keywords

Primary care Entitlement Migrant access equity Health care policy

Index Keywords

vulnerable population health care management primary medical care health care policy Europe health care personnel human qualitative research Humans migrant Review migration health care quality health care access Quality of Health Care utilization health care need Health Policy health care system Transients and Migrants Health Services Accessibility primary health care health care delivery
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84964345463&doi=10.1016%2fj.healthpol.2016.03.012&partnerID=40&md5=33a477e18ff9c37c6e552f3ad4e38702
DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2016.03.012
ISSN: 01688510
Cited by: 25
Original Language: English