Medical and Psychosocial Care of Paediatric Refugees
Citation: Klas J, Grzywacz A, Kulszo K, et al. Challenges in the medical and psychosocial care of the paediatric refugee—A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(17):10656.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: The authors reported that they had no external funding for this review.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for articles that focused on the physical and mental health of refugee minors from countries undergoing a refugee crisis. They restricted their searches to articles published in English between 2016 and 2022. They included 54 studies.
What was found: Refugee minors had overall poorer health status than non-immigrant children, with an increased prevalence of infectious diseases and poor mental health. The main barriers to supporting refugee children in schools were linguistic diversity and a lack of professional readiness among teachers. During hospitalization, problems included a lack of continuity of medical care and a lack of retained medical records. The use of the 3C model (Communication, Continuity of care, Confidence), with proper communication being the most important factor.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that in order to provide effective assistance to refugee minors, a multidisciplinary system of care must be established, with language support and teacher training. It is also crucial to improve care coordination and record-keeping systems in the health care system. There is also a need for mental health support and interventions.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence, race/ethnicity/culture/language, religion, and education.
This summary was prepared by Riwa Deghaim, checked by Grace Meng and finalized by Helen Worthington.