Abstract

BackgroundHealth assessments (HAs) for newly arrived asylum seekers have become a regular practice in most EU countries, but what is performed, how they are organized, and whether it is mandatory or not to attend varies between countries. Swedish national statistics have shown that only about 45% of asylum seekers attend the optional HA offered upon their arrival in Sweden. There are significant variations among Sweden’s 21 counties, ranging from 20 to 90%. The reasons for the low attendance have not yet been fully explored, though there are indications of structural weaknesses within the healthcare system. This study aimed to identify variations in policies and implementation of HAs targeting asylum seekers and other migrants. The study analyzes the structure and processes in different Swedish counties and discusses how this might influence the coverage.MethodsThis research project had an exploratory quantitative descriptive design applying a cross-sectional survey based on two structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were performed to summarize the data.ResultsThe number of healthcare centers in each county that carried out HAs on asylum seekers varied independently of the size of the county. Variations in regard to structure, organization, processes, and performance monitoring of the HA process also appeared diverse, and these were in some cases also reported differently by administrators and healthcare professionals in the same county. Most commonly, the HAs were carried out in ordinary health centers, though some counties presented alternative solutions on how to organize the HAs.ConclusionsThere seems to be no coherent national system for carrying out HAs on asylum seekers in Sweden. The structure, organization, processes, and outcomes vary between the counties, and the reasons for the low coverage of HAs appear to be multifaceted.

Highlights

  • Health assessments (HAs) for newly arrived asylum seekers have become a regular practice in most European Union (EU) countries, but what is performed, how they are organized, and whether it is mandatory or not to attend varies between countries

  • Health assessments (HAs) for newly arrived asylum seekers have become a regular practice in most EU countries, but these vary in terms of content, whether they are voluntarily, and how they are organized [8]

  • Organization and structure The number of healthcare centers in each county that carried out HAs on asylum seekers varied between 1 unit and more than 10 units, regardless of the size of the county

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Summary

Introduction

Health assessments (HAs) for newly arrived asylum seekers have become a regular practice in most EU countries, but what is performed, how they are organized, and whether it is mandatory or not to attend varies between countries. Swedish national statistics have shown that only about 45% of asylum seekers attend the optional HA offered upon their arrival in Sweden. This study aimed to identify variations in policies and implementation of HAs targeting asylum seekers and other migrants. The study analyzes the structure and processes in different Swedish counties and discusses how this might influence the coverage. Health assessments (HAs) for newly arrived asylum seekers have become a regular practice in most EU countries, but these vary in terms of content, whether they are voluntarily, and how they are organized [8]. The national strategy against HIV emphasizes the importance of the HA for newly arrived

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