Undocumented Immigrant Women in Spain: A Scoping Review on Access to and Utilization of Health and Social Services

Abstract

This scoping review summarizes and analyzes relevant studies related to the evidence published on undocumented immigrant women's access to and utilization of health and social services in Spain. Scientific literature was identified by entering search terms in seven electronic databases which combined retrieved health sciences peer-reviewed articles (Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL Plus and Scopus) and grey literature databases (Europa OpenGrey, DART-Europe and Google Scholar) published between 2004 and 2014 and written in Spanish or in English presenting data about Spain. Those that fulfill the inclusion criteria were selected after a blind peer reviewed process when pertinence and quality was debated. A total of 16 publications were included, the main topics being socio-cultural differences in the access and utilization of social and health services and barriers faced by immigrant women. None of the studies focused exclusively on undocumented women, hence further research is needed in this area.

Emergency Care for Women Irregular Migrants Who Arrive in Spain by Small Boat: A Qualitative Study

“…Consistent with our results, emergency care for WIMs must incorporate gynaecological assessment [14,22,25], mental healthcare provision [21], immunisation [12], information about the WIMs’ rights [41] and risk reports of victims of sexual violence and human trafficking [4]. There is a lack of studies that focus on emergency care for WIMs [46,47]. Our results identify vulnerability [37], conflicts between healthcare providers and the police [44], fear of deportation [48], a need for joint training and a lack of gender focus [23].…”

Sub-Saharan African immigrant women's experiences of (lack of) access to appropriate healthcare in the public health system in the Basque Country, Spain

“…As our study shows, the social vulnerability of undocumented immigrants, induced by their legal situation, made it more difficult for them to get a source of income and to pay for accommodation to be registered as a resident [8, 39], which is a sine qua non condition to get the healthcare card in Spain. In addition, undocumented immigrants suffer from stigma on the basis of documentation status [24] and as a result, experience more problems than the documented ones to access healthcare, for fearing to be rejected by the health centre professionals or reported to immigration authorities [1, 5, 6, 8, 9]. Our findings align with previous studies that show that access for undocumented immigrants is unequal and strongly dependent on the goodwill of individual professionals [5, 8].…”

“…Undocumented immigrants, usually coming from low-income countries, have even more restricted legal healthcare access [7]. Due to their social vulnerability and poorer living conditions, barriers such as lack of awareness about their rights, fear of being reported to the police and poor knowledge of the local language hinder their healthcare access [8, 9]. Among immigrants, women are more likely to suffer mental and sexual and reproductive health issues than their male counterparts [10, 11], making them to interact more with healthcare professionals.…”

¿Cómo acceden las mujeres inmigrantes a los servicios sanitarios en el País Vasco? Percepciones de profesionales sanitarias

“…Al igual que presenta la literatura, nuestro estudio identificó que la concepción sobre la salud y la enfermedad y ciertas creencias culturales influyen en la habilidad para percibir la necesidad de atención y el acercamiento que se hace a los servicios sanitarios10, 16. La pasividad del sistema sanitario respecto a la búsqueda de casos entre la población vulnerable, además de comprometer su acercamiento, refuerza la ley de «cuidados inversos», que establece que los grupos de población con mayores necesidades de atención sanitaria son los que menos la reciben 17 .…”