How to increase vaccination uptake among migrant communities

Migrants arriving in Europe may face a range of personal and practical barriers to vaccination. Research found that tailored messages about vaccination, community-based interventions, and convenient local clinics can encourage underserved groups to have vaccinations. Recommendations include improving migrants ' access to primary healthcare and co-designing strategies and services. Migrants are a diverse group of people, from many different countries. They include refugees, asylum seekers and international workers. Differing healthcare systems around the world, and various barriers to vaccination experienced by mobile groups, mean that some migrants arriving in Europe have not had routine vaccinations. This puts some nationality groups at risk from certain diseases, including COVID-19. Researchers set out to design strategies to increase vaccination among migrant groups. They reviewed previous studies in which migrants described what had encouraged – or discouraged – them from having a vaccine. They assessed studies that objectively measured the link between different factors (such as how long they had been in the host country, or their migrant status) and being under-vaccinated. The research identified multiple barriers to key vaccines. B arriers were in communication, were practical and legal, and within services (such as a lack of specific guidelines for healthcare professionals). Some issues were specific to particular groups. For example, eastern European and Muslim...
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news