Uptake of Health Care Services by Refugees: Modelling a Country Response to a Western Balkan Refugee Crisis.

Dragana Cirovic,Vladimir Vasic,Nikolina Boskovic,Mirjana Zivkovic-Sulovic,Milena Santric-Milicevic,Milan Lackovic,Milena Vasic

doi:10.3390/healthcare8040560

Abstract

Planning and adjusting health capacities to meet the needs of refugees is a constant issue for transit and destination countries following the 2015/2016 Western Balkans refugee crisis. Understanding this crisis is important for taking the right steps in the future. The study informs about the prediction of the refugees’ health needs and demands for services in correspondence to political decision-making during 2015/2016 Western Balkan Refugee Crisis. Time series analysis, linear regression, and correlation analyses modelled the weekly flux of arrivals of more than half a million refugees to Serbia and the European Union, changes in the utilization of health care services, and disease diagnoses. With strategic planning, in the event of a recurrence of the refugee crises, the demand for health care services in the transit country could increase by 63 (95% CI: 21–105) for every additional 1000 refugees.

Highlights

As estimated by the United Nations, 60 million people worldwide are forcefully displaced from their homes for various reasons
The overall aim of the study was to model the uptake of health care services by refugees in terms of the contextualized political response to the 2015/2016 WBRC so that decision-makers in the transit country could be informed about the possible demand for health care services in the event of a recurrence of the refugee crises
The refugee challenge was described using two variables: the number of arrivals of refugees in Serbia and to European Union (EU) countries (Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, and Hungary), and number of refugees registered by the Serbian health care providers

Summary

Introduction

As estimated by the United Nations, 60 million people worldwide are forcefully displaced from their homes for various reasons (i.e., war, violence, and economic instability). This paper focuses on the health needs and demands for health care services of the vulnerable population of refugees and asylum seekers (hereinafter refugees). This population is named ‘mixed-migrants’, and the term encompasses migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers who typically travel together using the same transportation and routes and who are seeking residence in other countries for longer than one year [1,2]. Undocumented migrants face major barriers to accessing health care services and other social support services [3]. Asylum-seekers and refugees have expressed rights to health care, social housing, and support for finding stable

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