Demographics and utilisation of health services by paediatric refugees from East Africa: implications for service planning and provision

Abstract

Regina Cooke is a Clinical Fellow at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. Sally Murray is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne and former Program Coordinator of the Victorian Immigrant Health Program, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne. Jonathan Carapetis is an Infectious Diseases Physician, Royal Children's Hospital, Senior Lecturer, Department of Paediatrics,University of Melbourne and Research Fellow, Murdoch Children's Research Institute. James Rice is a Clinical Fellow at University of British Columbia, Canada and formerly of Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. Nigisti Mulholland is a Social Scientist, formerly of Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne.Susan Skull is Deputy Director of the Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Royal Children's Hospital, and Senior Lecturer, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne.Little is known of difficulties in accessing health care for recently arrived paediatric refugees in Australia. We reviewedroutinely collected data for all 199 East African children attending a hospital Immigrant Health Clinic for the first time over a 16 month period. Although 63% of parents reported medical consultations since arrival, 77% of this group reported outstanding, unaddressed health problems. Availability of interpreters and information on health services were the main factors hindering access to care. These data have informed future service planning at the Clinic.Ongoing data collection is key to maintaining a responsive, targeted service for a continually changing population.