Premium
Health needs of accompanied refugee and asylum‐seeking children in a UK specialist clinic
Author(s) -
Harkensee Christian,
Andrew Rachel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.15861
Subject(s) - medicine , refugee , psychosocial , focus group , mental health , family medicine , overweight , health care , pediatrics , obesity , psychiatry , archaeology , marketing , economics , business , history , economic growth
Aim To identify health needs and healthcare access barriers of accompanied refugee and asylum‐seeking (RAS) children in the North East of England, and pilot a new service model to address these. Methods Mixed‐methods study (retrospective analysis of routinely collected service data, qualitative data from focus groups) of children who attended a hospital‐based specialist clinic. Results Over two years, 80 children were referred to this service. Most frequent diagnoses (total n = 104) were anaemia ( n = 17), neurodevelopmental ( n = 12), respiratory ( n = 12) and mental health ( n = 9) conditions. Mild–moderate stunting (23%), overweight and obesity (41%), stunting with obesity (9%) and micronutrient deficiencies (vitamin D (66%), vitamin A (40%) and manifest (14%) or latent (25%) iron deficiency anaemia) were highly prevalent. 62% of children had experienced psychological trauma, and 39% had abnormal results in psychosocial wellbeing screening. 21% of children required secondary or tertiary care, 8% mental health referrals, and 47% were followed up in this specialist clinic. Focus groups with families and the community report unaddressed health needs and substantial barriers of access to health care. Conclusion Refugee and asylum‐seeking children have substantial health needs and healthcare access barriers that are not routinely addressed. The authors propose a service model for healthcare provision.