10.Q. Workshop: Ukrainian refugees in Europe: tackling challenges in health needs and access to health care

Abstract

Abstract Because of the Russian invasion, nearly 8 million refugees fleeing Ukraine have been registered across Europe of whom 90% are women and children. Ukrainian refugees’ health and access to health care is a concern of utmost importance in this context; and a critical public health challenge for the European countries. To undertake this task knowledge is needed on how Ukrainian refugees experience problems related to health, wellbeing, and access to health care services in host countries. Yet, knowledge is scarce on general health needs, health reception and access to specific services among Ukrainian refugees in European countries. In this context, our workshop intends to bring together four projects that shed light on health needs and well-being of Ukrainian refugees in different European countries as well as the organization of support and access to healthcare systems. The workshop is structured in a first part with presentations and a second part with an open discussion involving the audience. Each presentation will last a maximum of 8-10 minutes. The first presentation concerns health and wellbeing of Ukrainian refugees in the UK including the role of initial health assessments and local authority involvement. The second presentation addresses Ukrainian refugees’ wellbeing, adaptation and use of health care services in Denmark. The third presentation highlights health and healthcare needs among refugees from Ukraine arriving in Norway during 2022. Finally, the fourth presentation is also from Denmark adressing general practitioners’ assessment of Ukrainian refugees arriving to Denmark. In the last part of the workshop, the chairpersons will open a discussion with all workshop participants in order to exchange experiences. The discussion will focus on how to support research and public health interventions targeted Ukrainian refugees including which areas need urgent focus. By learning from each other, this workshop aim to inform public health researchers and stakeholders on challenges and possible solutions to the important public health problem of Ukrainian refuges health. Key messages • Cross-country sharing of public health knowledge regarding Ukrainian refuges health. • Adressing public health challenges and possible solutions regarding Ukrainian refuges health.