Refugee child health: a systematic review of health conditions in children aged 0-6 years living in high-income countries.

This study describes the extent, quality and cultural appropriateness of current research on the health conditions of refugee children aged 0-6 years settled in high-income countries. A systematic review was conducted, including original articles published on the health conditions experienced by refugee children. A total of 71 papers were included.

Matching of woman and doula, and the generation of trust in an Australian volunteer doula program: Findings from a realist evaluation.

How women are cared for while pregnant and having a new baby can have profound and lasting effects on their health and well-being. While mainstream maternity care systems aspire to provide care that is woman-centred, women with fewest social and economic resources often have reduced access. Community-based doula support programs offer complementary care for these women and are known to, on average, have positive outcomes.

How and when doula support increases confidence in women experiencing socioeconomic adversity: Findings from a realist evaluation of an Australian volunteer doula program.

How women are cared for while having a baby can have lasting effects on their lives. Women value relational care with continuity-when caregivers get to know them as individuals. Despite evidence of benefit and global policy support, few maternity care systems across the world routinely offer relational continuity.

A Systematic Review of Culturally Competent Family Violence Responses to Women in Primary Care.

Existing culturally competent models of care and guidelines are directing the responses of healthcare providers to culturally diverse populations. However, there is a lack of research into how or if these models and guidelines can be translated into the primary care context of family violence. This systematic review aimed to synthesise published evidence to explore the components of culturally competent primary care response for women experiencing family violence.

Teach-Back in Interpreter-Mediated Consultations: Reflections from a Case Study.

Background: Women with a refugee background and their families who have settled in a new country can be expected to have low health literacy, and this may be a contributing factor to poor perinatal outcomes. Brief description of activity: Effective communication is critical for meaningful engagement with patients. Teach-Back is an interactive tool that can assist health professionals confirm whether they are communicating effectively so they are understood and their patients can apply health information.

HARMONY: a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of a culturally competent systems intervention to prevent and reduce domestic violence among migrant and refugee families in general practice: study protocol.

Introduction: Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is prevalent, harmful and more dangerous among diaspora communities because of the difficulty accessing DVA services, language and migration issues. Consequently, migrant/refugee women are common among primary care populations, but evidence for culturally competent DVA primary care practice is negligible. This pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial aims to increase DVA identification and referral (primary outcomes) threefold and safety planning (secondary outcome) among diverse women attending intervention vs comparison primary care clinics.

Group Pregnancy Care for refugee background women: a codesigned, multimethod evaluation protocol applying a community engagement framework and an interrupted time series design.

Introduction: Pregnancy and early parenthood are key opportunities for interaction with health services and connecting to other families at the same life stage. Public antenatal care should be accessible to all, however barriers persist for families from refugee communities to access, navigate and optimise healthcare during pregnancy. Group Pregnancy Care is an innovative model of care codesigned with a community from a refugee background and other key stakeholders in Melbourne, Australia.

Addressing stillbirth inequities in Australia: Steps towards a better future.

Persistent disparities in stillbirth risk and care are present in Australia. Eliminating these disparities is possible with a commitment to enhancing and scaling up models of culturally safe maternity care shown to be effective for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and those of migrant and refugee backgrounds. Campaigns to improve public awareness of stillbirth also play an important role in reducing stillbirth risk and consequences.

Evaluation of systems reform in public hospitals, Victoria, Australia, to improve access to antenatal care for women of refugee background: An interrupted time series design.

Introduction: Inequalities in maternal and newborn health persist in many high-income countries, including for women of refugee background. The Bridging the Gap partnership programme in Victoria, Australia, was designed to find new ways to improve the responsiveness of universal maternity and early child health services for women and families of refugee background with the codesign and implementation of iterative quality improvement and demonstration initiatives. One goal of this 'whole-of-system' approach was to improve access to antenatal care.

'It requires something drastic': Interviews with health care leaders about organisational responses to social disadvantage.

Problem: Persisting disparities in maternal and child health outcomes in high income countries require new insights for health service response.

Background: Significant social hardship, including factors related to migration, are associated with perinatal morbidity and mortality. The universality of maternity and child health care offers opportunities to reduce health disparities.

An Australian doula program for socially disadvantaged women: Developing realist evaluation theories.

Problem: Volunteer doula support has achieved favourable outcomes for socially disadvantaged women around the world. There is limited explanatory understanding of how, why and when doula support programs improve outcomes.

Background: A community organisation is providing free doula support for women experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage in Melbourne, Australia.

Interventions with pregnant women, new mothers and other primary caregivers for preventing early childhood caries.

Background: Dental caries is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood and is associated with adverse health and economic consequences for infants and their families. Socioeconomically disadvantaged children have a higher risk of early childhood caries (ECC).

Objectives: To assess the effects of interventions with pregnant women, new mothers or other primary caregivers of infants in the first year of life, for preventing ECC (from birth to six years of age).

Afghan families and health professionals' access to health information during and after pregnancy.

Background: Having a baby in a new country can be challenging, especially if unable to communicate in a preferred language. The aim of this paper is to explore the provision of health information for Afghan women and men during pregnancy, childbirth and the first year after birth in Melbourne, Australia.

Methods: Community engagement underpinned the study design.

Common maternal health problems among Australian-born and migrant women: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Migrant women of non-English speaking background make up an increasing proportion of women giving birth in high income countries, such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of common physical and psychosocial health problems during pregnancy and up to 18 months postpartum among migrant women of non-English speaking background compared to Australian-born women.

Methods: Prospective pregnancy cohort study of 1507 nulliparous women.

Initiation and duration of breastfeeding of Aboriginal infants in South Australia.

Background: Benefits of breastfeeding are well-established. Few studies have examined initiation and duration of breastfeeding of Aboriginal infants.

Methods: Population-based study of women giving birth to an Aboriginal infant in South Australia, July 2011-June 2013.

Enhancing general practice referrals for women of refugee background to maternity care.

This paper presents the findings from a quality improvement project implemented by a maternity hospital located in a region of high refugee settlement. The project was designed to improve the completeness of general practice referral information to enable triage to maternity care that would best meet the needs of women of refugee background. Referral information included four data items - country of birth, year of arrival in Australia, language spoken and interpreter required - used in combination to provide a proxy measure of refugee background.

The physical and mental health problems of refugee and migrant fathers: findings from an Australian population-based study of children and their families.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to report on the physical and mental health of migrant and refugee fathers participating in a population-based study of Australian children and their families.

Design: Cross-sectional survey data drawn from a population-based longitudinal study when children were aged 4-5 years.

Setting: Population-based study of Australian children and their families.

Improving the ascertainment of refugee-background people in health datasets and health services.

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.

Cultural safety and belonging for refugee background women attending group pregnancy care: An Australian qualitative study.

Background: Refugee women experience higher incidence of childbirth complications and poor pregnancy outcomes. Resettled refugee women often face multiple barriers accessing pregnancy care and navigating health systems in high income countries.

Methods: A community-based model of group pregnancy care for Karen women from Burma was co-designed by health services in consultation with Karen families in Melbourne, Australia.

Primary health care for Aboriginal women and children in the year after birth: findings from a population-based study in South Australia.

Objective: To investigate the extent to which Aboriginal women access primary care for themselves and their infant in the year after childbirth.

Method: Cross sectional population-based survey of women giving birth to Aboriginal babies in South Australia between July 2011 and June 2013.

Results: A total of 344 women took part in the study 4-9 months after giving birth.

Bridging the language gap: a co-designed quality improvement project to engage professional interpreters for women during labour.

Objective The aim of the study was to improve the engagement of professional interpreters for women during labour. Methods The quality improvement initiative was co-designed by a multidisciplinary group at one Melbourne hospital and implemented in the birth suite using the plan-do-study-act framework. The initiative of offering women an interpreter early in labour was modified over cycles of implementation and scaled up based on feedback from midwives and language services data.

Stressful events, social health issues and psychological distress in Aboriginal women having a baby in South Australia: implications for antenatal care.

Background: Around 6% of births in Australia are to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 2-3 times more likely to experience adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes than non-Aboriginal women in Australia.

Methods: Population-based study of mothers of Aboriginal babies born in South Australia, July 2011 to June 2013.

Use of cannabis during pregnancy and birth outcomes in an Aboriginal birth cohort: a cross-sectional, population-based study.

Objectives: Indigenous women continue to experience rates of stillbirth, preterm birth and low birth weight, two to three times higher than other women in high-income countries. The reasons for disparities are complex and multifactorial. We aimed to assess the extent to which adverse birth outcomes are associated with maternal cannabis use and exposure to stressful events and social health issues during pregnancy.

'We are all scared for the baby': promoting access to dental services for refugee background women during pregnancy.

Background: Vulnerable populations such as people with refugee backgrounds are at increased risk of poor oral health. Given that maternal characteristics play a significant role in the development of dental caries in children, antenatal care offers an opportunity to both provide information to women about the importance of maternal oral health and accessing dental care. Although pregnant women are recognised for 'priority' care under Victorian state-government policy, rarely do they attend.