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.

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.

COVID-19-related mental health difficulties among marginalised populations: A literature review.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative consequences on the mental health of the population, which has been documented. Marginalised groups that are at risk of poor mental health overall have been particularly impacted. The purpose of this review is to describe the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marginalised group (i.e. persons who are socio-economically disadvantaged, migrants and members of ethno-racial minorities, experience homelessness) and identified interventions which could be well-suited to prevent and address mental health difficulties. We conducted a literature review of systematic reviews on mental health difficulties since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic and appropriate interventions among marginalised groups published from January 1, 2020 to May 2, 2022, using Google Scholar and PubMed (MEDLINE). Among 792 studies on mental health difficulties among members of marginalised groups identified by keywords, 17 studies met our eligibility criteria. Twelve systematic reviews examining mental health difficulties in one or several marginalised groups during the COVID-19 pandemic and five systematic reviews on interventions that can mitigate the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic were retained in our literature review. The mental health of marginalised groups was severely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most frequently reported mental health difficulties included symptoms of anxiety and depression. Additionally, there are interventions that appear effective and well-suited for marginalised populations, which should be disseminated on a large scale to mitigate the psychiatric burden in these groups and at the population level.