Journal article
Improving the ascertainment of refugee-background people in health datasets and health services
J Yelland, E Riggs, J Szwarc, D Vanpraag, W Dawson, S Brown
Australian Health Review | CSIRO PUBLISHING | Published : 2017
DOI: 10.1071/AH16164
Abstract
Ascertainment of vulnerable populations in health datasets is critical to monitoring disparities in health outcomes, enables service planning and guides the delivery of health care. There is emerging evidence that people of refugee backgrounds in Australia experience poor health outcomes and barriers to accessing services, yet a clear picture of these disparities is limited by what is routinely collected in health datasets. There are challenges to improving the accuracy of ascertainment of refugee background, with sensitivities for both consumers and providers about the way questions are asked. Initial testing of four data items in maternity and early childhood health services (maternal coun..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
The authors thank Sue O'Callaghan for contributing to earlier work on the collection of the four data items in maternity and to members of the expert group who shared their wisdom and experience of data collection and approaches to sensitively ascertaining a person's refugee background in the clinical encounter, specifically Tina Pettigrew, Catherine Mills, Georgie Paxton and Joanne Gardiner. The authors thank Sue Casey and Philippa Duell-Piening for contributing to the deliberations of the expert group and for their helpful comments on the manuscript. The authors acknowledge the enthusiasm and commitment of those participating in Bridging the Gap activities, including efforts to improve routinely collected data and the responsiveness of health care for refugee background families. Bridging the Gap is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC; 1056799). The partner organisations have contributed substantial in-kind resources. The authors acknowledge the support of the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program. Jane Yelland is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (2014-17); Stephanie Brown is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (2011-15) and an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (2016-20).