Publications Search
This publications portal is a repository of all IOM migration health publications from 2006 to present where IOM was a primary contributor.
Publications include peer-reviewed scientific papers, technical reports, training guides/manuals, policy briefs/discussion papers, factsheets, newsletters, research reviews, conference and poster presentations. These are categorized by topic, author, country/region covered as well as by year, language, and type of publication. The map reflects the countries covered by the publications.
To browse or search: simply use the filter options on the left-hand side. Alternatively, you can enter keyword/s in the search box. Selecting a specific publication will lead to a ‘download’ link or link to the website where the document is housed. Here is the step-by-step guide for your reference.
Examining post-conflict stressors in northern Sri Lanka: A qualitative study
Author/s: Fiona C. Thomas, Malasha D’souza, Olivia Magwood, Dusharani Thilakanathan, Viththiya Sukumar, Shannon Doherty, Giselle Dass, Tae Hart, Sambasivamoorthy Sivayokan, Kolitha Wickramage, Sivalingam Kirupakaran, Kelly McShane
Forcibly displaced individuals typically encounter daily stressors, which can negatively impact mental health above and beyond direct exposure to war-related violence, trauma, and loss. Understanding the perspectives of war-affected communities regarding daily stressors can enhance the integration of mental health into local primary care. The aim of the current study was to explore how daily stressors are conceptualized in a post-conflict setting. Data collection was completed with 53 adult…
Read more
Displacement-related stressors in a Sri Lankan war-affected community: Identifying the impact of war exposure and ongoing stressors on trauma symptom severity
Author/s: Fiona C. Thomas, Simon Coulombe, Todd A. Girard, Tae L. Hart, Shannon Doherty, Giselle Dass, Kolitha Wickramage, Chesmal Siriwardhana, Rajendra Surenthirakumaran, Kelly McShane
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a shift in the literature towards identifying how ongoing stress adversely affects mental health beyond the effect of direct exposure to war-related violence. The goal of the current study was to investigate the relationship between displacement-related stressors and trauma symptom severity. Participants (N = 1015) were recruited from primary healthcare clinics (PHCs) in Northern Sri Lanka and completed a demographic and displacement…
Immunisation status of UK-bound refugees between January, 2018, and October, 2019: a retrospective, population-based cross-sectional study
Author/s: Anna Deal, Sally E Hayward, Alison F Crawshaw, Lucy P Goldsmith, Charles Hui, Warren Dalal, Fatima Wurie, Mary-Ann Bautista, May Antonnette Lebanan, Sweetmavourneen Agan, Farah Amin Hassan, Kolitha Wickramage, Ines Campos-Matos, Sally Hargreaves
Summary
Background
WHO’s new Immunization Agenda 2030 places a focus on ensuring migrants and other marginalised groups are offered catch-up vaccinations across the life-course. Yet, it is not known to what extent specific groups, such as refugees, are immunised according to host country schedules, and the implications for policy and practice. We aimed to assess the immunisation coverage of UK-bound refugees undergoing International Organization for…
Health and illness in migrants and refugees arriving in Europe: analysis of the electronic Personal Health Record system
Author/s: Dominik Zenner, Ana Requena Méndez, Steffen Schillinger, Elena Val, Kolitha Wickramage
Abstract
Background
The electronic Personal Health Record (ePHR) is a health information system that registers health data on newly arriving migrants and was implemented in eight European countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia). This is a cross-sectional study aimed to describe the health problems and health status of all migrants attended at health clinics as part of the health assessment…
When husband migrate: effects of international migration of husbands on fetal outcomes, body mass index and gestational weight of female spouses that stay behind
Author/s: Renuka Jayatissa, Kolitha Wickramage, Buddhini Herath Denuwara, Himali Herath, Ranbanda Jayawardana, Amila Gayan Perera, Nawamali De Alwis
Abstract
Background
International labour migration continues to be an integral component in Sri Lanka’s economic development. Previous research indicates an adverse perinatal outcome in association with low maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (PBMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG). However, evidence of this association is limited in migrant families. This study aims to investigate the associations between PBMI, GWG among lactating mothers (LM), and fetal outcomes…
Refugees, migrants, internally displaced people and COVID-19: protocol for an updated systematic review
Author/s: Maren Hintermeier, Amir Mohsenpour, Nora Gottlieb, Sergio Flores, Rohleder Sven, Sweetmavourneen Pernitez-Agan, Janice Lopez, Kolitha Wickramage, Kayvan Bozorgmehr
The review protocol is in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, & Altman, 2009), and is essentially an update of the protocol (Hintermeier et al., 2020) of a previously published review on the topic (Hintermeier et al., 2021).
The search strategy is twofold. Firstly, we will use the database provided by the WHO of global literature on coronavirus disease (https://search.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-…
Read more
Adopting an ethical approach to migration health policy, practice and research
Author/s: Kristine Husøy Onarheim, Kolitha Wickramage, David Ingleby, Supriya Subramani, Ingrid Miljeteig
Abstract
Migration health is affected by decision-making at levels ranging from global to local, both within and beyond the health sector. These decisions impact seeking, entitlements, service delivery, policy-making, and knowledge production on migration health. It is key that ethical challenges faced by decision-makers are recognized and addressed in research and data, clinical practice, and policy making on migration health. An ethical approach can provide methods to…
Health and Illness in Newly Arrived Migrants and Refugees Arriving at Europe's Shores: Analysis of the Electronic Personal Health Record System in Seven Countries
Author/s: Dominik Zenner, Ana Requena-Méndez, Steffen Schillinger, Elena Val, Kolitha Wickramage
Background: The electronic Personal Health (ePHR) Record is a health information system for newly arriving migrants that has been implemented in seven European countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Serbia and Slovenia). This is a cross-sectional study of all migrants who attended as part of the health assessment programme established in the reception centres between 2016 and 2019 that provides a comprehensive overview of illness and health in the migrant cohort.…
Read more
Migrants in the Middle East and North Africa in a time of COVID-19
Author/s: Kolitha Wickramage, Chiaki Ito, Mahmoud Hilali, Sally Hargreaves, Ana Requena-Méndez, on behalf of the Migrant Health MENA working group
As COVID-19 vaccine roll-out begins in the MENA region, ensuring migrant populations have equitable access to the vaccine, designing innovative and specific mechanisms for vaccine roll-out in these areas, and monitoring vaccine uptake in migrant groups are now imminent challenges.
Understanding health inequities among transiting migrants within the Middle East and North African (MENA) region through strengthening data systems
Author/s: Ana Requena-Méndez, Kolitha Wickramage, Chiaki Ito, Bouchra Assarag, Mahmoud Hilali, Anna Deal, Sara Arias, Dominik Zenner, Wafa Chemao-Elfihri, Sally Hargreaves, the Migrant Health MENA Working Group
The editorial argues that failure to integrate migration variables within the health information systems in many countries in the MENA region means that, to date, there has been an absence of comprehensive and disaggregated epidemiological data on infectious disease prevalence (including COVID-19), outbreaks, and vaccine coverage, making it difficult to map health disparities and inform evidence-based policy and service delivery.