"Border closure only increased precariousness": a qualitative analysis of the effects of restrictive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic on Venezuelan's health and human rights in South America.

BACKGROUND: In 2010, a political and social crisis pushed thousands of Venezuelans out of their country; today, seven million Venezuelans live abroad. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, border closure increased and affected specific vulnerable migration flows, such as Venezuelans trying to migrate to Chile through the Northern borders. In this context, there is little evidence of migrants' health status and needs, their access to health services, and other basic needs (e.g., housing) from a human rights perspective. Therefore, we qualitatively explored the effects of border closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Venezuelan migrants' health and human rights, focusing on access to healthcare in the Northern Chilean border that adjoins Peru and Bolivia. METHODS: Following a case-study qualitative design, we conducted an ethnography that included participatory observation of relevant sites (e.g., hospitals, main squares, migrant shelters) in Antofagasta, Iquique, and Arica and 30 in-depth interviews with actors in the health sector (n = 7), experts from the non-governmental sector (n = 16), and governmental actors (n = 7) in three large cities close to the Northern border. RESULTS: We found four main dimensions: (i) border and migration processes, (ii) specific groups and intersectionality, (iii) barriers to healthcare services, and (iv) regional and local responses to the crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Programs characterized by the presence of healthcare providers in the field were essential to attend to migrants' health needs at borders. CONCLUSIONS: Coordination between actors is crucial to implement regional protocols that respond to current migration phenomena and migrants' health needs. Health policies using a human rights approach are urgently required to respond to migrants' healthcare needs at borders in South America.

[The Migration and Health Teaching Network: consolidating and developing education and training]. / Das Lehrnetzwerk Migration und Gesundheit: Aus- und Weiterbildung konsolidieren und weiterentwickeln.

Patients with migration history often encounter barriers to accessing healthcare in Germany, which lowers the quality of care available to them and can affect their overall health. These barriers in access to healthcare are due to both adverse health policies and a lack of migration-related - and diversity-sensitive - content in medical and other health profession teaching. Although most healthcare professionals regularly care for patients with individual or generational migration experience in Germany, teaching content relevant to the healthcare of these patients has not yet been anchored in the curriculum. At best, it is taught in the form of electives or other optional courses.To address this gap, the Teaching Network Migration and Health was created with the goal of promoting the development of human rights-based, diversity-sensitive, and equity-oriented curricula at medical and healthcare professions schools. It aims to (1) connect individuals active in teaching and promote the exchange and collaborative development of teaching materials, (2) use this collective knowledge and experience to develop a model course on migration and health, and (3) develop strategies for the longitudinal implementation of this course into the regular medical and other health professional school curricula. These efforts are flanked by evaluative accompanying research. Anyone interested in joining the network is invited to join and strengthen the network by contacting the authors.

Elective course "Climate-sensitive health counselling" - prevention as an opportunity for people and planet? An interactive, student-led project focusing on prevention and agency in physician's climate communication.

Objective: According to the WHO, anthropogenic climate change poses the greatest threat to human health in the 21st century. However, the link between climate change and human health is not an integral part of medical education in Germany. Within a student-led project, an elective clinical course was designed and successfully implemented, which has been made accessible to undergraduate medical students at the Universities of Giessen and Marburg. The implementation and didactic concept are explained in this article. Methodology: In a participatory format, knowledge is imparted using an action-based, transformative approach. Topics discussed are, amongst others, interactions of climate change and health, transformative action, and health behavior, as well as "green hospital" and the simulation of a "climate-sensitive health counselling". Lecturers from different disciplines within and beyond medicine are invited as speakers. Results: Overall, the elective was evaluated positively by the participants. The fact that there is a high demand among students for participation in the elective, as well as for the transfer of concepts underlines the need for including this topic into medical education. The implementation and further development of the concept at two universities with different study regulations demonstrates its adaptability. Conclusion: Medical education can raise awareness of the multiple health consequences of the climate crisis, can have a sensitizing and transformative effect on various levels, and can promote climate-sensitive action ability in patient care. In the long term, however, these positive consequences can only be guaranteed by including mandatory education on climate change and health in medical curricula.

Addressing the Mental Health Challenges of Refugees-A Regional Network-Based Approach in Middle Hesse Germany.

Refugees constitute a vulnerable group with an increased risk of developing trauma-related disorders. From a clinician's integrative perspective, navigating the detrimental impact of the social, economic, structural, and political factors on the mental health of refugees is a daily experience. Therefore, a collective effort must be made to reduce health inequities. The authors developed a treatment concept which provides broader care structures within a scientific practitioner's approach. The resulting "Trauma Network" addresses the structural challenges for refugees in Middle Hesse. Accompanying research provided a sound basis for further discussions with policy-makers to improve the situation for refugees in the short- and long-term.

The need for protecting and enhancing TB health policies and services for forcibly displaced and migrant populations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Disruption of health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to derail progress being made in tuberculosis control efforts. Forcibly displaced people and migrant populations face particular vulnerabilities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which leaves them at further risk of developing TB. They inhabit environments where measures such as "physical distancing" are impossible to realize and where facilities like camps and informal temporary settlements can easily become sites of rapid disease transmission. In this viewpoint we utilize three case studies-from Peru, South Africa, and Syria-to illustrate the lived experience of forced migration and mobile populations, and the impact of COVID-19 on TB among these populations. We discuss the dual pandemics of TB and COVID-19 in the context of migration through a syndemic lens, to systematically address the upstream social, economic, structural and political factors that - in often deleterious dynamics - foster increased vulnerabilities and risk. Addressing TB, COVID-19 and migration from a syndemic perspective, not only draws systematic attention to comorbidity and the relevance of social and structural context, but also helps to find solutions: the true reality of syndemic interactions can only be fully understood by considering a particular population and bio- social context, and ensuring that they receive the comprehensive care that they need. It also provides avenues for strengthening and expanding the existing infrastructure for TB care to tackle both COVID-19 and TB in migrants and refugees in an integrated and synergistic manner.

Different Patterns of Mental Health Problems in Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM): A Sequential Mixed Method Study.

Unaccompanied refugee minors (URM) represent one of the most vulnerable refugee groups due to their young age, developmental status, and insufficient coping strategies. Clinical observations indicate that the frequency of mental health problems varies between different URM subgroups. In the present research project, clinical interviews as a source of qualitative data were combined with quantitative psychometric information in a mixed-method approach in order to study the patterns of mental health problems in 561 URM from four different language groups (Arabic, Farsi, Somali, and Tigrinya) immediately after arrival in the host country (Germany). Qualitative analysis obtained as differentiating categories "language, countries of origin, age, and gender"; quantitatively, the Refugee Health Screener (RHS-15) was applied. According to the positive screening results, the highest number of mental complaints was returned by children and adolescents speaking Farsi (65.9%) and Somali (65.8%). They were followed by URM speaking Arabic (49.4%) and Tigrinya (43.3%). The results were influenced not only by origin, but also by age (with higher burden among older Farsi-speaking URM) and gender (with higher burden among male URM). Although the prevalences in URM subgroups differ, the observed high rates of positive screening results in our sample of URM from Germany substantiate the need for early detection of mental complaints and appropriate mental health care for at least every second URM.

Assessing the special need for protection of vulnerable refugees: testing the applicability of a screening method (RHS-15) to detect traumatic disorders in a refugee sample in Germany.

Objectives: Although EU member states are obligated to take special account of the situation of particularly vulnerable refugees, appropriate and specific measures to detect affected asylum seekers are not yet available. This study tries to pave the way for the implementation of an adequate instrument which at the same time assesses these needs of suffering people whilst responding to the need for mental health assessments specifically designed for refugees. This was done by testing the implementation of a screening method (Refugee Health Screener RHS-15) for trauma related mental health problems in refugees. Design: Two refugee samples in Germany (differing in arrival time: 126 applicants for asylum residing in the initial reception center and 116 living in long term communal accommodations) were assessed with the culturally sensitive Refugee Health Screener (RHS-15) to detect the incidence of mental health problems amongst them. Test fairness, reasonableness, susceptibility, transparency, acceptance, external design, utility and economy of the instrument were examined to check the applicability of the RHS-15 standardization test. Results: The RHS-15 indicates a good practical feasibility as the examination of the focused psychometric characteristics suggests. It became apparent, that implementing a screening procedure depends on political, legal and medical context factors that need to be considered. 2/3 of the participants had a positive screening result, which needs further diagnostic clarification in a second step. Conclusion: The RHS-15 seems to be practicable, economical, and rapidly deployable for the widespread detection of traumatic disorders in refugees living in Europe. The tool proved useful to aid diagnostic assessments and provide treatment to individuals in need, however the time of examination (resp. the duration of staying in the target land) influences the results.

Cultural Competence and Global Health: Perspectives for Medical Education - Position paper of the GMA Committee on Cultural Competence and Global Health.

Introduction: Routine medical care in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is being increasingly impacted by the cultural and linguistic diversity of an ever more complex world. Both at home and as part of international student exchanges, medical students are confronted with different ways of thinking and acting in relation to health and disease. Despite an increasing number of courses on cultural competence and global health at German-speaking medical schools, systematic approaches are lacking on how to integrate this topic into medical curricula. Methodological approach: This paper is based on a structured consensus-building process by a multidisciplinary committee composed of faculty and students. In a first step, a qualitative online survey was carried out in order to establish an inventory of definitions and concepts. After the second step, in which a literature search was conducted and definitions of global health and transcultural and intercultural competence were clarified, recommendations were formulated regarding content, teaching and institutional infrastructure. Based on small-group work and large-group discussions, different perspectives and critical issues were compiled using multiple feedback loops that served to ensure quality. Results: An inventory on the national and international level showed that great heterogeneity exists in regard to definitions, teaching strategies, teaching formats and faculty qualification. Definitions and central aspects considered essential to medical education were thus established for the use of the terms "cultural competence" and "global health". Recommendations are given for implementation, ranging from practical realization to qualification of teaching staff and education research. Outlook: High-quality healthcare as a goal calls for the systematic internationalization of undergraduate medical education. In addition to offering specific courses on cultural competence and global health, synergies would be created through the integration of cultural competence and global health content into the curricula of already existing subject areas. The NKLM (the national competence-based catalogue of learning objectives for undergraduate medical education) would serve as a basis for this.

Migration and health: a global public health research priority.

BACKGROUND: With 244 million international migrants, and significantly more people moving within their country of birth, there is an urgent need to engage with migration at all levels in order to support progress towards global health and development targets. In response to this, the 2nd Global Consultation on Migration and Health- held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in February 2017 - facilitated discussions concerning the role of research in supporting evidence-informed health responses that engage with migration. CONCLUSIONS: Drawing on discussions with policy makers, research scholars, civil society, and United Nations agencies held in Colombo, we emphasize the urgent need for quality research on international and domestic (in-country) migration and health to support efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs aim to 'leave no-one behind' irrespective of their legal status. An ethically sound human rights approach to research that involves engagement across multiple disciplines is required. Researchers need to be sensitive when designing and disseminating research findings as data on migration and health may be misused, both at an individual and population level. We emphasize the importance of creating an 'enabling environment' for migration and health research at national, regional and global levels, and call for the development of meaningful linkages - such as through research reference groups - to support evidence-informed inter-sectoral policy and priority setting processes.

Syndemic vulnerability and the right to health.

Investigators working both in syndemics, a field of applied health research with roots in medical anthropology, and in the field of health and human rights recognise that upstream social, political, and structural determinants contribute more to health inequities than do biological factors or personal choices. Syndemics investigates synergistic, often deleterious interactions among comorbid health conditions, especially under circumstances of structural and political adversity. Health and human rights research draws on international law to argue that all people deserve access not only to health care, but also to the underlying determinants of good health. Taking the urgent matter of migrant health as an empirical focus, we juxtapose the fields of syndemics and health and human rights, identify their complementarities, and advocate for a combined approach. By melding insights from these fields, the combined syndemics/health and human rights approach advanced here can provide clinicians and other key stakeholders with concrete insights, tools, and strategies to tackle the health inequities that affect migrants and other vulnerable groups by: (1) mapping the effect of social, political, and structural determinants on health; (2) identifying opportunities for upstream intervention; and (3) working collaboratively to tackle the structures, institutions, and processes that cause and exacerbate health inequities. Undergirding this approach is an egalitarian interpretation of the right to health that differs from narrow legalistic and individual interpretations by insisting that all people are equal in worth and, as a result, equally deserving of protection from syndemic vulnerability.

Культура имеет значение: учет культурных контекстов здоровья при выработке политики

Данный аналитический обзор подготовлен в связи с растущей осведомленностью лиц, формирующих политику, и специалистов общественного здравоохранения о важной связи, которая существует между культурой и здоровьем. Отражение осведомленности в вопросах культуры в выработке политики имеет огромное значение для формирования адаптивных, справедливых и устойчивых систем медико-санитарной помощи, а также для общего прогресса во многих вопросах здоровья и благополучия населения. В обзоре рассматриваются три ключевые сферы общественного здравоохранения – питание, миграция и окружающая среда – и демонстрируется, насколько важную роль осведомленность в вопросах культуры играет в понимании концепций здоровья и благополучия и в выработке более эффективных и справедливых стратегий здравоохранения. В нем утверждается, что научные исследования в сфере гуманитарных и социальных дисциплин, имеющих отношение к здоровью, способны внести немалый вклад в выработку политики в области общественного здравоохранения.

Culture matters: using a cultural contexts of health approach to enhance policy making

This policy brief has been developed in response to the increasing awareness among policy-makers and the public health community of the important relationship between culture and health. Incorporating cultural awareness into policy-making is critical to the development of adaptive, equitable and sustainable health care systems, and to making general improvements in many areas of population health and well-being. By exploring the three key public health areas of nutrition, migration and environment, the policy brief demonstrates how cultural awareness is central to understanding health and well-being and to developing more effective and equitable health policies. Consequently, it argues that public health policy-making has much to gain from applying research from the health-related humanities and social sciences.

[Asylum Law and Mental Health: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Coaction of Medical and Legal Aspects]. / Asylrecht und psychische Gesundheit: Eine interdisziplinäre Analyse des Zusammenwirkens medizinischer und juristischer Aspekte.

OBJECTIVE: Interdisciplinary analysis of the consequences of laws and legal practice for mental health conditions of asylum seekers and psychiatric care. METHODS: Based on the case study of a Kurdish woman with complex trauma-related psychiatric disorder, who had been in psychiatric hospital care for 25 months, the legal and medical facts are exposed, followed by a discussion referring to theoretical approaches from medical anthropology. RESULTS: Immigration laws and legal practice can have harmful consequences, which can be interpreted as "structural violence". CONCLUSION: In case of traumatized refugees, the coaction of legal and medical aspects has to be acknowledged seriously by the medical, legal and political parts involved.