Views and experiences of migrants and stakeholders involved in social and health care for migrants in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

Lotito, Claudia, Turrini, Giulia, Purgato, Marianna, Bryant, Richard A., Felez-Nobrega, Mireia, Haro, Josep Maria, Lorant, Vincent, McDaid, David ORCID: 0000-0003-0744-2664, Mediavilla, Roberto, Melchior, Maria, Nicaise, Pablo, Nosè, Michela, Park, A-La ORCID: 0000-0002-4704-4874, McGreevy, Kerry R., Roos, Rinske, Tortelli, Andrea, Underhill, James, Martinez, Julian Vadell, Witteveen, Anke, Sijbrandij, Marit and Barbui, Corrado (2023) Views and experiences of migrants and stakeholders involved in social and health care for migrants in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study. BMC Psychology, 11 (1). ISSN 2050-7283

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had major and potentially long-lasting effects on mental health and wellbeing across populations worldwide. However, these impacts were not felt equally, leading to an exacerbation of health inequalities, especially affecting vulnerable populations such as migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Aiming to inform the adaptation and implementation of psychological intervention programmes, the present study investigated priority mental health needs in this population group. METHODS: Participants were adult asylum seekers, refugees and migrants (ARMs) and stakeholders with experience in the field of migration living in Verona, Italy, and fluent in Italian and English. A two-stage process was carried out to examine their needs using qualitative methods including free listing interviews and focus group discussions, according to Module One of the DIME (Design, Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation) manual. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic analyses approach. RESULTS: A total of 19 participants (12 stakeholders, 7 ARMs) completed the free listing interviews and 20 participants (12 stakeholders and 8 ARMs) attended focus group discussions. Salient problems and functions that emerged during free listing interviews were discussed during the focus group discussions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ARMs struggled with many everyday living difficulties in their resettlement country due to social and economic issues, revealing a strong influence of contextual factors in determining mental health. Both ARMs and stakeholders highlighted a mismatch between needs, expectations and interventions as factors that may hamper proper implementation of health and social programmes. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings could help in the adaptation and implementation of psychological interventions targeting the needs of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants aiming to find a match between needs, expectations, and the corresponding interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registration number 2021-UNVRCLE-0106707, February 11 2021.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Authors
Divisions:	Care Policy and Evaluation Centre
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Date Deposited:	22 May 2023 16:51
Last Modified:	02 Dec 2024 22:18
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/119228

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