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

• Main Authors: Rapeepong Suphanchaimat, Sirinard Nipaphorn, Noppakhun Thammatacharee, Weerasak Putthasri, Sanya Srirattana, Kanang Kantamaturapoj
• Other Authors: Mahidol University. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: migrant; health system; Thailand; literature review; knowledge gap; แรงงานต่างด้าว; ระบบสุขภาพ; ประเทศไทย; การทบทวนวรรณกรรม; ช่องว่างความรู้
• Online Access: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/72028
• Institution: Mahidol University

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.