Literature review for identifying knowledge gaps in the health system management policies for cross-border migrants in Thailand

Authors

  • Rapeepong Suphanchaimat Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
  • Sirinard Nipaphorn National Health Security Office (NHSO), Bangkok, Thailand
  • Noppakhun Thammatacharee Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
  • Weerasak Putthasri Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
  • Sanya Srirattana Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
  • Kanang Kantamaturapoj Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand

Keywords:

migrant, health system, Thailand, literature review, knowledge gap

Abstract

Migrants’ health is becoming a thriving concern all over the world. In Thailand, the health insurance policy for migrants was established in 2004; however, there are still challenges in implementation. This study aims to identifying knowledge gaps in the arrangement of healthcare policies on migrants in Thailand.

A scoping review method was exercised. Potential articles were searched from PubMed and grey literatures, then synthesised with health system building blocks. Nineteen eligible articles were included for final review. Most articles focused on service provision. Few articles focused on governance and healthcare information system. In terms of health personnel management, hiring migrant health workers was effective method to address communication difficulties between migrant patients and Thai healthcare providers. Possessing health insurance card did not guarantee increasing service utilisation of migrants due to several barriers such as language and cultural differences. Besides, the Ministry of Public Health has limited institutional capacity for monitoring and evaluation of the performance of health facilities, and lack of effective data integration between ministries was noted.

There were knowledge gaps in all migrant health system components. For governance issue, there were important research questions regarding legal instruments, whether and to what extent existing legal instruments support equitable provision of health care for migrants. For human resources management, it is worth questioning that whether migrant health workers have adequate capacities in providing essential services, and how a long-term mechanism that supports capacity building of migrants is to be developed. Thus, this literature review was serving as a foundation of future research in migrant health system development in Thailand.

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Published

2018-06-30

How to Cite

Suphanchaimat, R., Nipaphorn, S., Thammatacharee, N., Putthasri, W., Srirattana, S., & Kantamaturapoj, K. (2018). Literature review for identifying knowledge gaps in the health system management policies for cross-border migrants in Thailand. Sahasat: Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 18(1), 357–392. retrieved from https://so02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/sahasart/article/view/223431

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2018): January - June

Section

Research Article

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