Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Zimmerman, Susan E.
• Chatty, Dawn
• Nørredam, Marie Louise

Titel

Health needs and access to care in immigration detention: perceptions of former detainees

Ist Teil von

• International journal of migration, health and social care, 2012-11, Vol.8 (4), p.180-185

Ort / Verlag

Hove: Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Purpose - As immigration detainee numbers grow, doubts have arisen over the consistency, quality and suitability of the health care services provided among the UK detention estate and in other Western countries. Detained immigrants, due to their past and present situations, may be especially vulnerable in terms of their health. They may simultaneously lack entitlements to care due to their legal situation. Health needs and access to health care services in immigration detention is understudied. Therefore, this exploratory study aims to test the usefulness of a questionnaire among former detainees examining perceptions of their health needs and access to care within immigration detention in the UK.Design methodology approach - In total, 30 former detainees completed questionnaires, and 27 of these also participated in semi-structured interviews, in June July 2010. Frequency analyses of questionnaire responses were performed.Findings - The results showed that 66 per cent of the participants entered detention with pre-existing mental or physical health conditions that required ongoing or new treatments. In addition, new mental emotional (93 per cent) or physical (53 per cent) health problems arose for the majority of the participants within detention.Research limitations implications - Access to health care in detention was often problematic in its effectiveness or availability due to a variety of formal and informal challenges.Originality value - The results of this exploratory study cast doubt on how appropriately the mental and physical health needs of detainees are being provided for within the current UK detention estate.