Migration, diabetes and the health system response: Lessons learned from an international collaborative study

Objective: While migrants have a higher risk of developing diabetes type II than non-migrants, they are not always able to benefit from diabetes-related programs underway in the countries they settle in due to a variety of individual, cultural, and health systems factors. Therefore, it is important that more be done to ensure that migrants can easily access diabetes prevention and care programming. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, ethnically representative healthcare centres will select diabetic migrants (ages 35-39) under care for in-person interview through provider records. Age and gender matched non-migrant diabetic controls will also be selected. After accounting for disease-related severity differences between the samples, descriptive analyses and t-tests will be used to assess the difference in means between migrant and non-migrant groups on diabetes knowledge, help-seeking behavior, and care received from the health sector. Among migrants, differences between men and women, time spent in the host country, and ethnic differences will also be addressed. Healthcare personnel working with migrants will be randomly selected across health centres for questionnaire interview regarding their interaction with and experience in treating migrant clients. A sample of migrants without diabetes will also be asked about their beliefs regarding diabetic risk factors and prevention. Conclusions: It is our hope that this study will bring to light both the individual and health systems-level barriers to diabetes treatment that migrants may face in European countries. Healthcare practitioners and district policy makers should take steps to address this potential gap in diabetes prevention and care.