Barriers and facilitators affecting HIV care for migrant people living with HIV in Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries
Citation: Arora AK, Ortiz-Paredes D, Engler K, et al. Barriers and Facilitators Affecting the HIV Care Cascade for Migrant People Living with HIV in Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development Countries: A Systematic Mixed Studies Review. AIDS Patient Care and STDs. 2021;35(8):288-307.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: The authors reported personal funding from the Fonds de Recherche Québec-Santé; a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (via the Canadian Institutes of Health Research); a Canadian Institute of Health Research, Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Mentorship Chair in Innovative Clinical Trials for HIV Care; the Gilead Investigator Sponsored Research Program and Quebec’s Ministry of Health.
What is this? Many migrants move to countries which are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Migrants living with HIV may experience delays in accessing HIV care. Information on the associated barriers and facilitators might help policy makers and practitioners responsible for this care.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods studies of barriers and facilitators to HIV care for migrants living with HIV in OECD countries. They restricted their searches to studies published in English and did the search in March 2020. They included 59 studies.
What was found: Migrants living with HIV face barriers to HIV care regardless of their host country, ethnic and geographic origins, or legal status.
Most barriers and facilitators to HIV care for migrants living with HIV were associated with individual and organizational factors and centered around retention in HIV care and treatment.
The most common barriers were fear, competing priorities, language issues and inadequate clinical environments.
The most common facilitators were an adaptive clinical environment, sufficient social supports and positive attitudes and traits.
Implications: The authors of the review concluded that adapting clinical environments to better address the competing needs of migrants living with HIV via multidisciplinary models would address retention issues across OECD countries.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence, ethnicity/culture, gender/sex, social capital and personal characteristics associated with discrimination.
This summary was prepared by Joly Ghanawi, edited by Sydney Johnson and finalized by Mike Clarke