Facilitators and Barriers to Asylum Seeker and Refugee Oral Health Care Access: A Qualitative Systematic Review

Objectives: Asylum Seekers and refugees (ASRs) encounter barriers when accessing oral health care (OHC). A qualitative systematic review was conducted to understand the perceptions, attitudes, behaviours, and experiences of ASRs regarding their OHC. Themes were extracted to identify the barriers and facilitators ASRs face when accessing OHC. Data sources: PubMed, APA PsycInfo, Cochrane database, Web of science, and CINAHL were searched on the 4 and 5 of October 2022 Data selection: Primary studies including ASRs of any age or nationality were included. Qualitative data of ASRs lived experiences of Oral Health (OH) and accessing OHC were extracted. The CASP quality appraisal tool was used to assess methodological quality. Data synthesis: Data findings were extracted by hand and then meta-aggregation was performed using inductive reasoning. 13 primary qualitative studies were included. Three barriers to care were identified including difficulty accessing treatments and appointments, cultural and language changes, and ASRs lack of OHC knowledge or incongruous beliefs surrounding OH. Good OHC was facilitated by good OH education, social influence and support from care providers or government. Conclusions: Caregivers and governments should adapt current policy to facilitate access to OHC, educate ASRs on OH and offer support to fund access and maintenance of good oral health. More research is needed to understand the barriers and facilitators to OHC for other people groups who experience health inequalities.