Public health aspects of migrant health: a review of the evidence on health status for labour migrants in the European Region

Labour migrants are those who are seeking work or are employed in the host country plus those who were previously employed but are no longer working and remain in the host country irrespective of their documentation. A systematic search of scholarly and grey literature found 33 studies published in English between 2005 and 2015: 16 assessing the success of specific policies or interventions for labour migrants and 17 with best practice recommendations for policy-making. Documentation status, high socioeconomic status, access to health insurance, membership of labour unions, safe working conditions, outreach services (often by nongovernmental organizations) and supportive communication methods (e.g. translation services, work safety brochures in many languages) all reduced inequalities in access to and quality of health care provision for labour migrants. An intersectoral approach involving different government divisions and cross-border cooperation also improved health status and access to the health system for labour migrants.