Health needs and experience of asylum-seekers in the RESPOND clinic
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A descriptive analysis of the health needs and lived-experience of asylum-seekers seen in the RESPOND clinic in North-Central London
IRAS ID
324369
Contact name
Nicola G Longley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London Hospital, , Joint Research Office, UCLH/UCL Joint Research Office
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The RESPOND model is a community-based integrated care pathway for asylum-seekers in North Central London. It provides a comprehensive health needs assessment in a trauma-informed environment with appropriately trained staff. From the limited evidence about the specific health needs of asylum-seekers in the UK, there are multiple barriers to accessing healthcare for this population, a lack of knowledge amongst healthcare staff about providing care for asylum-seekers, and a large unmet health need. We intend to describe the health and social care needs of asylum-seekers accessing the RESPOND model through a mixed-methods research study. This will include quantitative data from a cross-sectional retrospective study, a nested cohort study, and qualitative data from two separate studies. The cross-sectional study will involve the analysis of data on health needs from the largest dataset of asylum-seekers in the UK to date. This will allow us to present a comprehensive health needs assessment which will guide the design of services nationally for this group. The cohort study will be a cost-analysis measuring health encounters of asylum-seekers before and after being seen in the clinic to evaluate the impact of the service on the wider healthcare system and estimate the cost-saving per patient seen. This study will allow us to demonstrate the health inequality that exists for asylum-seekers in the UK despite their full entitlement to NHS care, and the requirement of a service like RESPOND, specifically tailored for asylum-seekers, to become a blueprint for care nationally. The nested qualitative part will have two sub-studies. One will explore the barriers and facilitators to accessing mental healthcare for asylum-seekers as perceived by service users of RESPOND. The other will explore acceptability and feasibility of including Social Prescribing within the RESPOND service as perceived by Service Users and Service Providers.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0858
Date of REC Opinion
27 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion