Table 2 Description of TiC interventions

Al Alawneh, 2019 [34]

Randomized controlled trial

Home medication management review by pharmacists

Jordan

Syrian refugees

109

 < 6 months

Pharmacists, physicians

Treatment-related problems, medication knowledge and adherence

Information documented during home visit; questionnaires

Alalawneh, 2022 [36]

Randomized controlled trial

Home medication management review by pharmacists

Jordan

Syrian refugees

109

 < 6 months

Pharmacists, physicians

Treatment-related problems, medication knowledge and adherence

Information documented during home visit; questionnaires

Ahmad, 2022 [35]

Randomized controlled trial

Screening for mental health conditions through Interactive Computer-Assisted Client Assessment Survey (ICCAS) and sending the point-of-care reports to the clinician that summarize risks, local resources, and recommendations

Canada

Chinese immigrants

50

Not described

Nurse practitioners, Nurses, Dietitian, Social worker, and Health Promoter, physicians, professional interpreters

Mental health symptoms, referrals and discussions

Exit surveys and chart review of visit

Ansbro, 2021 [50]

Retrospective cohort

Multidisciplinary primary care model for management of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), offering medical consultation, health education, counseling, psychosocial support, home visit service, social work, and physiotherapy

Jordan

Vulnerable populations including refugees

4044

 > 1 year

Non-specialist doctors, family medicine specialist, nurses, trained health educators, psychosocial counselors, pharmacists, physiotherapists, social worker, and a home care team

Health-condition improvement

Measurement of blood pressure (BP) and HbA1c or capillary fasting blood glucose (FBG)

Brown, 2018 [51]

Longitudinal observational study

Healthy Fit program: a baseline health screening with referrals to clinical and community resources, followed by periodic telephone interviews and distribution of cancer screening vouchers, vaccines, heart health resources, and culturally appropriate health education materials, with community health workers promoting physical activity and social engagement

USA

Hispanic populations

514

6 months to 1 year

Community health workers (CHWs)

Screening, immunization, lifestyle changes. medication adherence

Scripted follow-up telephone interview

Coffman, 2017 [52]

Mixed method

Community health intervention which included education, physical assessment, referrals from primary care providers, data collection, and access to healthcare services

USA

Recently arrived Latino immigrants

216

6 months to 1 year

Primary care providers, community organizations that offered education on wellness and behavior change, professional interpreters

Primary care visits, health encounters, emergency department visits and access to social and health services

Focus groups and phone surveys, examining medical records

De Voogd, 2020 [48]

Mixed method

Interactive sessions, designed for community education on palliative care, focusing on quality of life, patient autonomy, care shaping, and end-of-life priorities

Netherlands

Immigrants

136

 < 6 months

Ethnic-matched community educators from migrant network organizations

Knowledge and attitude to palliative care

Questionnaires, observations, interviews with educators, interviews with participants

Documet, 2020 [21]

Pre-post

De la Mano con la Salud program: A participatory initiative, training 11 Latino immigrants as community promotores, collaboratively developing action plans, and referring participants to services and community resources, to enhance perceived social support

USA

Latino immigrant men

182

6 months to 1 year

Community health workers (promotores)

Having a usual source of care, doctor and dentist visits, social support, health insurance, binge drinking and depression symptoms

Questionnaires (administered face-to-face)

Dougherty, 2021 [22]

Pre-post

Delivering culturally modified new parent sessions to grandmothers and new moms not connected to health services

Australia

Bangla or Mandarin speaking women

30

 < 6 months

Family Health Nurses (CFHNs) with an interpreter and Bilingual Community Researchers (BCRs)

Health literacy

Questionnaires

Farokhi, 2018 [23]

Pre-post

An oral health literacy presentation using an illustrated booklet, followed by a dental team demonstration on brushing and flossing techniques

USA

Refugees, medical and nursing students and community members

151 refugees, 38 medical students, 34 nursing student and 17 community member

 < 6 months

Dental and dental hygiene students and faculty, certified interpreters

Oral health literacy

Questionnaires

Ghahari, 2020 [53]

Mixed-method

ACHIEVE program: A healthcare access intervention, covering topics like the Ontario healthcare system, family doctors, healthcare and symptoms communication, overcoming barriers, and where to receive mental health and sexual health care

Canada

Immigrants

46

 < 6 months

Program facilitators who had first-hand experience as Canadian immigrants

Health navigation score

Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ) and"Confidence in Health Access"questionnaire

Hill, 2008 [49]

Quasi-experimental

Healthy Kids program: community outreach, offering comprehensive capitated medical, dental, and behavioral health services provided by the Los Angeles (LA) Care health plan. Features sliding-scale monthly premiums and co-payments for a selection of services, and a three-month wait period for kids with employer-sponsored insurance

USA

Uninsured children including undocumented migrant children

1082

 > 1 year

Outreach workers

Having a usual source of care, medical and dental care services, having a preventive care and ambulatory care visit, confidence in access to care, financial burden of family

focused group with parents, administrative data, surveys

Hsu, 2015 [24]

Pre-post

Lay Health Advisor (LHA) trainees underwent 15 weeks of training, with the goal of teaching immigrant women basic oral hygiene

Taiwan

Vietnamese or Indonesian Women

37

Not described

Team of oral health-care experts and licensed dentists

Oral health literacy and health behavior

Immigrant Women’s Oral Health questionnaire

Jahn, 2018 [39]

Cluster randomized design- Qualitative evaluation

Patient-held Health Record (PHR) program: Using a small booklet including patient information about the PHR in ten languages, physician instructions, document pocket, chronic disease records, medication plan, consultation documentation, test results, and upcoming appointments

Germany

Physician and nurses providing care to asylum seekers

11 physicians, 6 nurses

 > 1 year

The PHR was developed by the Department of General Practice and Health Services Research at the University Hospital Heidelberg

Transfer of medical history and health-related information

Interviews

Jervelund, 2017 [37]

Randomized controlled trial

Providing a booklet (translated into the eight most commonly spoken languages) and a course about the Danish healthcare system including topics like system organization, provider access, confidentiality, interpreter use, prescriptions, preventive services, and system culture and visit by GP to discuss healthcare system

Denmark

Immigrants

1044

6 months to 1 year

Professional Danish language teachers, teaching assistants and the project leader and GPs

Healthcare-seeking behavior and health care utilization

Healthcare-seeking case-based questionnaire

Jervelund, 2018 [13]

Randomized controlled trial

Providing a booklet (translated into the eight most commonly spoken languages) and a course about the Danish healthcare system including topics like system organization, provider access, confidentiality, interpreter use, prescriptions, preventive services, and system culture and visit by GP to discuss healthcare system

Denmark

Immigrants

1044

6 months to 1 year

Professional Danish language teachers, teaching assistants and the project leader and GPs

Healthcare-seeking behavior and health care utilization

Healthcare-seeking case-based questionnaire

Lachal, 2019 [45]

Mixed method

Transcultural mediation consultations: Scheduled by doctors to address treatment-related cultural issues with patients and families

France

Families of immigrant children

21

Not described

Mediation team: Physician–mediator with training in transcultural care, and transcultural mediator from the same culture as the patient’s parents

Physician access to health-related information, understanding of the disease, communication, hospital service use

Data from the hospitals discharge database and semi directive interviews

Lambert, 2018 [54]

Cross-sectional study

Personal Assistance Program: Oral health checks and professional reference letter as well as a dental goody bag, containing a toothbrush and toothpaste which could be renewed along with a course on oral health development and disease prevention

Belgium

Undocumented immigrants

204

 > 1 year

Trained dentists and community oral health workers

Number of missed appointments

Appointment data in registration system

Lichtl, 2019 [25]

Pre-post

On-site walk-in clinic which offered consultations to address acute illnesses and provide preventive check-ups for asylum seekers

Germany

Asylum seekers

1376

 > 1 year

Hospital staff

Ambulatory care sensitive hospitalization

Medical records

Long, 2021 [42]

Mixed method

An education forum for education sector staff working with refugee-like families included presentations on services, eligibility, and access, along with case discussions, migration stories, networking, and small group discussions

Australia

People from refugee-like background

11

 < 6 months

Refugee Focused Health services (RFHS) representatives

Knowledge of RFHS organization and referrals to this organization

Surveys

McBride, 2016 [47]

Mixed method

Refugee Health Nurse Liaison: evaluation of mental, physical, and social health of asylum seeker or refugee patients that presented to the Emergency Department. Capacity building, staff education and training, and the creation of cooperative networks to improve patient flow both within and between services

Australia

Asylum seekers and refugees

946

6 months to 1 year

Registered nurses with experience in refugee health

Experience of patient care

Record keeping, patient feedback survey

McMurray, 2014 [26]

Pre-post

Integrated primary care: The refugee health clinic alongside reception house, offers culturally appropriate primary care which involves partnerships with case workers, translation services, comprehensive assessments, and international medical graduates'input

Canada

Government-assisted refugees

872

Not described

Clinic staff including family physicians, IMGs, case workers, nurses, residents

Wait time, referral to specialists and non-physician specialist health care provider, Knowledge of mental health care system

Intake and management logs and exit interviews

Michael, 2019 [27]

Pre-post

An algorithm to streamline refugee care coordination, which involved overseas medical examinations, additional screenings, appointment scheduling, Medicaid assignment, and initial office visits with patient-centered medical home (PCMH) providers within 30 days of refugees'arrivals, facilitated by information sharing among the Refugee Resettlement Agency (RRA), department of public health (DPH) and PCMH

USA

Refugees

285

Not described

Local RRA, DPH and DPH nurses, PCMH providers

Time required to establish health care in PMCH, emergency department visit, provider knowledge of refugee status

EMR chart review

Miner, 2017 [32]

Pre-post

Home healthcare services which aimed to support patients and caregivers by assisting with illness management and knowledge

USA

Refugees

40

Not described

The Home health care (HHC) team worked with prominent refugee community groups, advocacy organization, and health care providers

Anxiety and depressive symptoms, pain level, medication management, activities of daily living management

Chart review

Nacif-Gomera, 2013 [44]

Retrospective cohort

AMOR II program: offering comprehensive care and support to pediatric cancer patients and their families across all stages of illness, focusing on diagnosis, orientation, information, special needs, and ongoing assistance

Spain

Immigrant children with cancer

114

 > 1 year

Medical team, psychological, and social workers

Cancer survival and knowledge of disease and emotional support

Examining medical records; interviews, charts, constant evaluation

Owens, 2016 [55]

Qualitative study

Up until eight months gestation, pregnant women received care at a community-based antenatal care program that specialized in providing maternity care to multicultural and non- English-speaking women

Australia

Immigrant pregnant women

12

 > 1 year

Midwives, doctors, interpreters

Knowledge of pregnancy and confidence of asking questions

Semi-structured interviews

Pacheco, 2012 [28]

Pre-post

Development and implementation of a training module for current Promotoras (community health workers), following with participant recruitment and intervention phase of participant follow-up calls or visits and referrals

USA

Legal and undocumented Latino immigrants

20 promotoras,

423 community member

 < 6 months

Promotoras, faculty members in the Department of Health Sciences (developed the training curriculum)

Enrollment in health insurance, Having a regular source of care, age-appropriate preventive care, self-efficacy

Surveys (measuring healthcare access indicators), interviews

Robertson, 2019 [56]

Non-randomized trial

The Somali Health Realization intervention: A culturally sensitive, community-based educational program that uses role-playing, storytelling, and interactive sessions to reduce psychological problems brought on by trauma and address issues related to refugee migration and acculturation

USA

Somali refugee women

65

 < 6 months

Not mentioned

Positive coping subscales of distancing, self-control, seeking social support, positive appraisal and depression symptoms

Questionnaire

Salt, 2017 [29]

Pre-post

The initiative used the RHS- 15 screening instrument to identify mental health conditions among refugees and provided the Positive Wellness (PW) intervention, which included support group sessions aimed at healing, stigma reduction, symptom detection, and empowerment

USA

Refugee women

12

Not described

The Center for Refugee Services (CRS) director and interpreters

Mental health screening

Surveys

Sharma, 2023 [46]

Mixed method

Caseworker-Cultural Mediators (CCM) program: providing linguistically and culturally appropriate care, assisted by bilingual caseworker-cultural mediators. This includes facilitating care coordination, aiding in the understanding of medical information, patient advocacy, and community engagement

USA

Immigrants

7 patients, 1 family member, 6 caseworker, 5 physicians, 3 nurses and 1 social worker

 < 6 months

CCMs (who are certified medical interpreters), managed by a nurse manager

Experience of patient care

Semi-structured interviews

Sheikh, 2009 [33]

Pre-post

A health promotion campaign aimed at Sub-Saharan African refugee parents used ethnic media and social networks to promote a new clinical service for refugee children

Australia

Newly resettled refugee children

112 children

6 months to 1 year

The health promotion leaflet was designed in consultation with stakeholders and interest groups

Clinical attendance, Knowledge, attitude and belief towards infectious diseases and immunization

Interviews: measuring attendance and utilization rates of new service among targeted and non-targeted refugee parents

Straßner 2019 [38]

Cluster stepped-wedge randomized trial

Patient-held Health Record (PHR) program: Using a small booklet including patient information about the PHR in ten languages, physician instructions, document pocket, chronic disease records, medication plan, consultation documentation, test results, and upcoming appointments

Germany

Physicians providing care to asylum seekers

55 physicians

Not described

The PHR was developed by the Department of General Practice and Health Services Research at the University Hospital Heidelberg

Prevalence of missing information, availability of health-related information, satisfaction of physician with health- related information

Questionnaire

Streuli, 2021 [57]

Qualitative study

SHIFA (Arabic for ‘healing’): A community innovation program that involves community-based participation to address healthcare access barriers, specifically pediatric vaccination, through the creation of a culturally sensitive video animation available in Somali and English languages, with the goal of providing appropriate health education by involving the community in design and content

USA

Somali refugees

60

Not described

Utilizing a Co-Design Approach with Somali Community Members: Focus groups were facilitated by individuals holding Master of Public Health (MPH) degrees and PhDs in anthropology

Acceptance of vaccine

Focus group discussions, interviews, and surveys

Tsai, 2018 [43]

Quasi-experimental

Over a 5-month period, a problem-based learning (PBL) approach was used with 10 sessions aimed at enhancing health competences of access and proper utilization of health services through self-directed group learning, empowering participants with critical reasoning and lifelong skills

Taiwan

South-East Asian women

156

 < 6 months

Faculty tutors/coaches who were health educators experienced in PBL medical education. Coaches were South-Asian immigrant women trained as medical translators

Health literacy, sense of health control, navigation efficacy, hospitalization

Questionnaires; surveys

Vais, 2020 [30]

Pre-post

Over a nine-month period, women who exhibited transportation insecurity for upcoming medical appointments were provided with free round-trip Uber Health trips

USA

Refugee women

78

6 months to 1 year

Transportation Network Companies, telephone interpreters (or staff fluent in the patient's preferred language)

No show rates

Clinic no-show rates

Wenner, 2020 [58]

Natural quasi-experimental

Evaluating healthcare access between two health care models in Germany: healthcare voucher (HcV) model, in which refugees obtain paper-based vouchers from the local social welfare office for quarterly access to healthcare, and the newer model, the electronic health card (eHC) model, which is issued by some regions and allows access to healthcare services similar to the standard health insurance card without becoming members of the statutory health insurance

Germany

Newly-arrived refugees

55,452

 > 1 year

Healthcare providers

Specialist service use, emergency service use, hospitalization rates for ambulatory care sensitive condition

Claims data

Yang, 2021 [59]

Longitudinal observational study

APA Health CARE (APAHC): A collaborative project that aims to improve the health status and literacy of the Asian Pacific Islander American community through health fairs that provide health assessments, education on relevant topics, lifestyle recommendations, and referrals to healthcare resources in participants'native languages and in culturally sensitive ways

USA

Asian and Pacific Islander Americans with a significant proportion of immigrants

5635

 > 1 year

Client navigators (UCLA undergraduate students of APIA (Asian and Pacific Islander American) descent, medical and nursing students) under the guidance of attending physicians

Lifestyle modification, Obtaining health insurance, doctor visit and referral

Follow-up phone calls

Yassin, 2018 [60]

Qualitative study

Providing residents with free mental health care services over a three-year period

Lebanon

Palestinian refugees and their providers

28 providers’ group

 > 1 year

Social workers, clinical assistants, nurses, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists

Stigma and misconception about mental health, mental health treatment seeking

Focus groups

Yelland, 2020 [61]

Longitudinal observational study

The"Bridging the Gap"initiative: A comprehensive approach to improve care, implementing iterative strategies such as data system reforms for identifying refugee women, a community-informed group pregnancy care model, enhanced interpreter engagement, and data collection through the Birthing Outcome System

Australia

Women of refugee-background

24,794

 > 1 year

GPs, maternity hospital clinicians and staff, interpreters

number of patients attending antenatal visit, number of patients that have their first antenatal visit after 16 gestational week

Information in the"Birthing Outcome System (BOS)"

Yun, 2016 [31]

Pre-post

The Health Focal Point initiative: A patient navigator model employing trained community members serving as health educators

USA

Bhutanese refugees

35

6 months to 1 year

Patient navigators (“Health Focal Points”) who were bilingual adult refugees

Missing care, Health system knowledge, patient activation level, Post migration living difficulties, physical and mental health measure

Interviews

Russel, 2021 [40]

Pragmatic, cluster stepped-wedge randomized trial

The OPTIMISE initiative concentrated on four areas: health assessments, refugee identification, the employment of interpreters, and health referral pathways. Over the course of six months, facilitators made at least three 60- to 90-min visits and up to three follow-up calls, partnering with practice teams to enhance healthcare for refugees by developing action plans suited to each practice's requirements and employing local resource materials

Australia

Patients from refugee background

31 practices, 55 physicians, 14,633 patients

 > 1 year

Outreach facilitators (GPs and nurses with refugee health experience)

Proportion of patients who underwent a health assessment, Use of interpreting services, level of difficulty for referrals, awareness of language barrier, perceived barrier by physicians

Medicare billing, surveys, patients’ EMR, interviews

Saito, 2021 [41]

Pragmatic, cluster stepped-wedge randomized trial

The OPTIMISE initiative concentrated on four areas: health assessments, refugee identification, the employment of interpreters, and health referral pathways. Over the course of six months, facilitators made at least three 60- to 90-min visits and up to three follow-up calls, partnering with practice teams to enhance healthcare for refugees by developing action plans suited to each practice's requirements and employing local resource materials

Australia

Patients from refugee background

31 practices, 55 physicians, 14,633 patients

 > 1 year

Outreach facilitators (GPs and nurses with refugee health experience)

Proportion of patients who underwent a health assessment, Use of interpreting services, level of difficulty for referrals, awareness of language barrier, perceived barrier by physicians

Medicare billing, surveys, patients’ EMR, interviews