1. The nexus of immigration regulation and health governance: a scoping review of the extent to which right to access healthcare by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers was upheld in the United Kingdom during COVID-19.
- Author
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Van Hout, M.C., Madroumi, R., Andrews, M.D., Arnold, R., Hope, V.D., and Taegtmeyer, M.
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IMMIGRATION law , *HEALTH services accessibility , *MEDICAL quality control , *PSYCHOLOGY of refugees , *HEALTH policy , *CINAHL database , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *SYSTEMATIC reviews , *MEDLINE , *THEMATIC analysis , *MIGRANT labor , *LITERATURE reviews , *COMMUNICATION , *RIGHT to health , *ONLINE information services , *HEALTH equity , *PSYCHOSOCIAL factors - Abstract
Complementing the well-established evidence base on health inequalities experienced by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the UK; we examined the extent to which their right to equal non-discriminatory access to health services (promotive, preventive, curative) was upheld during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arksey and O′Malley's scoping review framework. A comprehensive search was conducted on Medline, PubMed, and CINAHL using detailed MESH terms, for literature published between 01 January 2020 and 01 January 2024. The process was supported by a ten-page Google search and hand searching of reference lists. 42 records meeting the inclusion criteria were charted, coded inductively and analysed thematically in an integrated team-based approach. Dissonance between immigration regulation and health governance is illustrated in four themes: Health systems leveraged to (re)enforce the hostile environment; Dissonance between health rights on paper and in practice; Structural failures to overcome communication and digital exclusion; and COVID-19 vaccine (in)equity exacerbated fear, mistrust and exclusion. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers encountered substantial individual, structural and policy-level barriers to accessing healthcare in the UK during COVID-19. Insecure immigration status, institutional mistrust, data-sharing and charging fears, communication challenges and digital exclusion impacted heavily on their ability to access healthcare in an equitable non-discriminatory manner. An inclusive and innovative health equity and rights-based responses reaching all migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are warranted if the National Health Service is to live up to its promise of ' leaving no one behind' in post-pandemic and future responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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