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Kuhlmann E, Ungureanu MI, Behrens GMN, Cossmann A, Fehr LM, Klawitter S, Mikuteit M, Müller F, Thilo N, Brînzac MG, Dopfer-Jablonka A. Migrant healthcare workers during COVID-19: bringing an intersectional health system-related approach into pandemic protection. A German case study. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1152862. [PMID: 37533524 PMCID: PMC10393282 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1152862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Migrant healthcare workers played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic, but data are lacking especially for high-resourced European healthcare systems. This study aims to research migrant healthcare workers through an intersectional health system-related approach, using Germany as a case study. Methods An intersectional research framework was created and a rapid scoping study performed. Secondary analysis of selected items taken from two COVID-19 surveys was undertaken to compare perceptions of national and foreign-born healthcare workers, using descriptive statistics. Results Available research is focused on worst-case pandemic scenarios of Brazil and the United Kingdom, highlighting racialised discrimination and higher risks of migrant healthcare workers. The German data did not reveal significant differences between national-born and foreign-born healthcare workers for items related to health status including SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, and perception of infection risk, protective workplace measures, and government measures, but items related to social participation and work conditions with higher infection risk indicate a higher burden of migrant healthcare workers. Conclusions COVID-19 pandemic policy must include migrant healthcare workers, but simply adding the migration status is not enough. We introduce an intersectional health systems-related approach to understand how pandemic policies create social inequalities and how the protection of migrant healthcare workers may be improved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Kuhlmann
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Marius-Ionut Ungureanu
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj Napoca, Romania
| | - Georg M. N. Behrens
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner-Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany
| | - Anne Cossmann
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Leonie Mac Fehr
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Sandra Klawitter
- Department of Computer Science, Ostfalia University of Applied Science, Wolfenbüttel, Germany
| | - Marie Mikuteit
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Frank Müller
- Department of General Practice, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Nancy Thilo
- Department of General Practice, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Monica Georgina Brînzac
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj Napoca, Romania
| | - Alexandra Dopfer-Jablonka
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner-Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany
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