Barriers to effective practice for health visitors working with asylum seekers and refugees

The objective of this study was to determine the barriers to effective practice that health visitors experience when working with refugees and asylum seekers. This was a qualitative study based on the analysis of in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 14 health visitors describing their experiences working with refugees and asylum seekers. These were analysed using the Framework process, a thematic matrix-based analytical method. The findings identified that the barriers to effectiveness for health visitors when working with refugees and asylum seekers were underpinned by ineffective use of services and stretched resources. The results imply that commissioners of services need to have an understanding of these barriers to commission effectively.