Study protocol for a systematic review of the social determinants of mental health and well-being of older migrants aged 50 years and above

Abstract

Background: Migration is a milestone event in a person’s life, bringing with it the challenges of settling down in an unfamiliar environment. The age at which migration takes place and the way migrants negotiate their old and new world significantly impacts their mental health. Thus, this systematic review seeks to analyse and summarize existing research detailing the contexts in which people migrate later in life and the associations between these contexts and social determinants of their mental health and well-being. Methods: Seven databases including PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, Applied Social Sciences Index, Abstracts: ASSIA, Ageline, CINAHL, and Informit will be searched systematically for original journal articles published in English. In the first screening stage, the first reviewer (PB) will screen all titles and abstracts and mark all potentially eligible texts for full-text screening. The second reviewer (HM) will review the decisions made. Any potential conflicts will be resolved with discussion. Afterward, full texts of potentially eligible studies will be assessed for eligibility by two reviewers (PB and HM). The methodological quality (or risk of bias) of individual studies will be appraised using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. The thematic synthesis of the data will be performed using a hybrid approach incorporating deductive (framed against the social determinants of health using intersectionality as a lens) and inductive data-driven processes. The review protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) (Reg: CRD42022359881).