Social prescribing for migrants in the United Kingdom: A systematic review and call for evidence

Social prescribing for migrants in the United Kingdom: A systematic review and call for evidence
Journal of Migration and Health Volume 4, 2021, 100067 (October 2021)
Highlights

• Social prescribing is an important part of the United Kingdom’s national healthcare strategy, and this is the first evidence review on social prescribing for migrants in the UK.
• Improved self-esteem, confidence, empowerment, and social connectivity were frequently reported outcomes.
• Link workers frequently took on additional support roles and/or actively delivered prescribed activities themselves.
• Despite low quality evidence, it is clear that migrants’ specific health and wellbeing needs, including the wider determinants of health, require social prescribing services to be adapted. Services should be tailored as much as possible to migrants’ preferences for language, culture, gender and service delivery format.
• Robust evaluation should be embedded into the planning and commissioning of social prescribing programmes in future. Better recording of sociodemographic characteristics (e.g. indicators of migration like country of birth and migrant typology) will enable a richer understanding of how social prescribing works and for whom.

Abstract

Impact of COVID-19 on migrants’ access to primary care and implications for vaccine roll-out: a national qualitative study

Impact of COVID-19 on migrants’ access to primary care and implications for vaccine roll-out: a national qualitative study
British Journal of General Practice 2021; 71 (709): e583-e595. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0028

• Qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with 64 primary care professionals (PCPs) and 17 recently arrived migrants in urban, suburban, and rural settings across England highlights a range of issues around pandemic related changes to primary care delivery and vaccine roll out.

Abstract

Social prescribing: migrant health guide

Social prescribing: migrant health guide
PHE 28 July 2021

• Advice and guidance for healthcare practitioners on the health needs of migrant patients who may require a greater range of prescribed interventions or activities than the general population to holistically address their health and wellbeing needs.
• See also the FutureNHS Social Prescribing Collaboration Platform [registration required] 

Supporting Migrants’ Access To Healthcare: Toolkit For Social Prescribing Link Workers

Supporting Migrants’ Access To Healthcare: Toolkit For Social Prescribing Link Workers
Doctors of the World June 2021

• A handbook for social prescribing link workers working with migrants.

Migrant health guide by country

Migrant health guide: countries A to Z
PHE updated 30 June 2021

• Advice and guidance on the health needs of migrant patients for healthcare practitioners. Including infectious diseases, nutritional and metabolic concerns, women’s health, and country profile (eg languages/religions).

Reducing loneliness among migrant and ethnic minority people: a participatory evidence synthesis.

Reducing loneliness among migrant and ethnic minority people: a participatory evidence synthesis. Public Health Res 2020;8(10)

• Researchers identified eight different types of intervention that can potentially reduce loneliness among ethnic minority and migrant groups. Three were common: befriending (a one-to-one supportive relationship), shared-identity social support groups (similar people coming together to support each other and engage in meaningful activities) and intercultural encounters (people interacting across ethnic or cultural difference). Evidence on whether or not these initiatives work in practice was limited. 

Plain English summary

MIGRANT.HEALTH toolkit

MIGRANT.HEALTH https://migrant.health/

• A tool for everyone in UK primary healthcare working to support new migrant patients, and a community to ask and respond to colleagues. 
• Includes GP registration, maternity care, urgent care, interpreters, social prescribing, entitlement toe NHS care and data sharing.

NHS visitor and migrant cost recovery programme - new guidance

NHS visitor and migrant cost recovery programme
DHSC First published 1 August 2018

• A suite of guidance and resources for NHS organisations and frontline staff including 
• How the NHS charges overseas visitors for NHS hospital care
• Providing healthcare for overseas visitors from the EEA: information for primary care staff
• EU cross-border healthcare directive: information for NHS providers
• Resources for NHS trusts to help manage overseas visitors and migrant charging