Abstract
PurposeImmigrants, asylum seekers and refugees living in Europe face a number of challenges in accessing or using health information and healthcare services available in their host countries. To resolve these issues and deliver the necessary services, providers must take a comprehensive approach to better understand the types of health information and healthcare services that these individuals need, seek and use. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop that comprehensive approach.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed publications was performed, with 3.013 articles collected from various databases. A total of 57 qualifying papers on studies conducted in Europe were included in the review after applying the predefined inclusion and exclusion requirements, screening processes and eliminating duplicates. The information seeking and communication model (ISCM) was used in the analysis.FindingsThe findings revealed that while many health information and healthcare services are accessible in Europe for immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, many of these individuals are unaware of their existence or how to access them. While our findings do not specify what health-related information these groups need, use or seek, they do suggest the importance and value of providing mental health, sexual health and HIV, as well as pregnancy and childbirth information and services. Furthermore, according to our results, health information services should be fact-based, easy to understand and raise awareness about healthcare structure and services available in Europe for this vulnerable population.Practical implicationsThis study has a range of practical implications, including (1) highlighting the need for mental health and behavioural health services and (2) stressing the value of addressing cultural context and religious values while investigating (health) information seeking of people with foreign background.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to systematically review and examine the behaviour of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in relation to health information and healthcare services in the European context.
Highlights
Europe has historically faced several internal migrations and migrations from other continents
The primary goal of this study was to focus on the health informationseeking behavior of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees living in Europe, as there have been few studies on this subject
Even though our findings are not directly describing what health-related information is needed, used, our sought by immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees residing in Europe, the findings of this review study highlight the importance of providing health-related information about mental health, sexual health and HIV, pregnancy and child birth for them (e.g., Barkensj€o et al, 2018; Dias et al, 2020; Kleinert et al, 2019; Straiton et al, 2018)
Summary
Europe has historically faced several internal migrations and migrations from other continents. There has been a significant increase in the number of people migrating to Europe in recent years. The number of asylum seekers in Europe grew from 200,000 in 2008 to 1,400,000 in 2015 (Eurostat, 2020) and this figure is continuously rising. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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