CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 539Migration, Health and TraumaMental Health Treatment and AccessMigration, Racism, and Human Rights

Mental health care utilisation and access among refugees and asylum seekers in Europe: a systematic review

Open access
Satinsky, Emily, Fuhr, Daniela C., Woodward, Aniek, Sondorp, Egbert, Roberts, Bayard·2019·Health Policy
DOI 10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.02.007
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Refugees and asylum seekers often have increased mental health needs, yet may face barriers in accessing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services in destination countries. The aim of this systematic review is to examine evidence on MHPSS service utilisation and access among refugees and asylum seekers in European Union Single Market countries. METHODS: Four peer-reviewed and eight grey literature databases were searched for quantitative and qualitative literature from 2007 to 2017. Access was categorised according to Penchansky and Thomas' framework and descriptive analyses were conducted. Quality of studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa scale and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. RESULTS: Twenty-seven articles were included. The findings suggest inadequate MHPSS utilisation. Major barriers to accessing care included language, help-seeking behaviours, lack of awareness, stigma, and negative attitudes towards and by providers. CONCLUSIONS: Refugees and asylum seekers have high mental health needs but under-utilise services in European host countries. This underutilisation may be explained by cultural-specific barriers which need to be tackled to increase treatment demand. Training health providers on cultural models of mental illness may facilitate appropriate identification, referral, and care. Based on these findings, it is crucial to review policies regarding MHPSS provision across the EU.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.02.007

Cites

53 of 53 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • People on the move in Greece face challenges in accessing psychological care and services.

    “People on the move in Greece face challenges in accessing psychological care and services (Satinsky et al., 2019).”

    From Border Pushbacks in Greece: Human Rights Violations and Psychological Impacts (2024) · cites this paper as Satinsky et al., 2019

    Section 3.2.3 (Accommodation; page unavailable) reports barriers to mental-health service access for refugees and asylum seekers in Europe, including a lack of interpreters. But the countries listed in Section 3 (Results; page unavailable) do not include Greece, so the review does not establish the claim specifically for people in Greece. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Internet-based interventions are easier to access anonymously, which might be preferable for groups with high levels of mental health stigma.

    “the fact that internet-based interventions are easier to access anonymously, which might be preferable for groups with high levels of mental health stigma (Andersson and Titov, 2014; Satinsky et al., 2019).”

    From Investigating the potential of a novel internet-based cognitive behavioural intervention for Dari and Farsi speaking refugee youth: A feasibility study (2022) · cites this paper as Satinsky et al., 2019

    The Discussion (page unavailable) says online services could be more acceptable to some refugees because they allow conversations in their mother tongue. Section 3.2.7 (page unavailable) identifies stigma as a significant barrier to mental-health care. The paper does not say internet-based interventions are easier to access anonymously or link their potential acceptability to anonymity. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Internet-based interventions can increase access to interventions in the native language of the recipient while using fewer therapist resources.

    “possible advantages of an internet-based approach include increased access to interventions in the native language of the recipient while using fewer therapist resources”

    From Investigating the potential of a novel internet-based cognitive behavioural intervention for Dari and Farsi speaking refugee youth: A feasibility study (2022) · cites this paper as Satinsky et al., 2019

    The Discussion says online services could let some refugees and asylum seekers speak with professionals in their mother tongue, potentially improving acceptability. It does not say that these services use fewer therapist resources; a search for therapist resources found no supporting passage. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Despite high need for psychosocial interventions and treatment, actual mental health care and its use in host countries is low for refugees.

    “Despite the correspondingly high need for diverse psychosocial interventions and treatment, the actual mental health care and its use in the host countries is low (Satinsky et al., 2019).”

    From Smartphone-delivered mental health care interventions for refugees: A systematic review of the literature (2023) · cites this paper as Satinsky et al., 2019

  • Living conditions in refugee camps, detention centres, and on the streets, where many people are crowded into small spaces and provided with few necessities, including lack of mattresses, inadequate food, water, and sanitary facilities, prevent a normal lifestyle, routine, or social engagement.

    “- Living conditions in refugee camps, detention centres, and on the streets, where many people are crowded into small spaces and provided with few necessities.”

    From Border Pushbacks in Greece: Human Rights Violations and Psychological Impacts (2024) · cites this paper as Satinsky et al., 2019

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 0 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 2 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 54 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Steel Z, Chey T, Silove D, Marnane C, Bryant R, van Ommeren M. Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health out- comes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement. JAMA 2009;302:537-49.
  2. Penchansky R, Thomas JW. The concepts of access: definition and relationship to consumer satisfaction. Medical Care 1981;19(2):127-40.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Satinsky, E., Fuhr, D. C., Woodward, A., Sondorp, E., & Roberts, B.
Affiliations
  • London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
  • Royal Tropical Institute (NL)
Corresponding author
Satinsky, Emily
ORCID
Venue
Health Policy
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-09
Volume
123
Issue
9
Pages
851-863
ISSN
0168-8510 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.02.007
OpenAlex
W2915103606
Cited by
539
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 57 · 2025: 78 · 2024: 110 · 2023: 84 · 2022: 89 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 10
FWCI
8.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Health Policy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Health › Migration, Racism, and Human Rights
Keywords
refugees, asylum seekers, access to mental health care, psychosocial support, barriers to care, help-seeking, mental health stigma, language barriers, clinician attitudes, European Union, migration and mental health
MeSH terms
Mental Disorders, Communication Barriers, Culture, European Union, Health Services Accessibility, Health Services Needs and Demand, Humans, Mental Health Services, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Refugees, Emigrants and Immigrants

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review