Refugee-like migrants have similar health needs to refugees: a New Zealand post-settlement cohort study

Refugees and asylum seekers have specific health and social care needs on arrival in a resettlement country. A third group - migrants with a refugee-like background (refugee-like migrants) - are less well defined or understood.

Using routinely collected data, this study compared demographics, interpreter need, and healthcare utilisation for cohorts of refugee-like migrants and refugees.

A retrospective cohort study was undertaken in Wellington, New Zealand.

Data were obtained for refugee-like migrants and refugees accepted under the national quota system (quota refugees), who enrolled in a New Zealand primary care practice between 2011 and 2015. Data from the primary care practice and nationally held hospital and outpatient service databases, were analysed. Age and sex standardisation adjusted for possible differences in cohort demographic profiles.

The cohorts were similar in age, sex, deprivation, and interpreter need. Refugee-like migrants were found to have similar, but not identical, health and social care utilisation to quota refugees. Primary care nurse utilisation was higher for refugee-like migrants. Clinical entries in the primary care patient record were similar in rate for the cohorts. Emergency department utilisation and hospital admissions were similar. Hospital outpatient utilisation was lower for refugee-like migrants.

This research suggests that health, social care, and other resettlement services should be aligned for refugee-like migrants and quota refugees. This would mean that countries accepting quota refugees should plan for health and social care needs of subsequent refugee-like migrant family migration. Further research should investigate matched larger-scale national health and immigration datasets, and qualitatively explore factors influencing health-seeking behaviour of refugee-like migrants.