Understanding Refugee Women’s Contraceptive Health Needs: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background: Canada has accepted over 40,000 refugees in the past five years. Approximately half of these are women of reproductive age. Following forced displacement, refugee women face several health inequities that affect their use of health services. Refugee women underutilize contraceptive care and have unmet contraceptive needs, and yet many engage in unprotected sexual activity with no desire to conceive. With the humanitarian crisis causing record-breaking shifts in migration, it is imperative that nurses understand the needs of refugee women related to their contraception. Objective and methods: To systematically identify the global literature on refugee women’s use of contraception within the reproductive age group. A scoping review study design using Arksey and O’Malley’s methodology was used. The systematic search of PubMed, Embase, CINAHL,Global Health, Nursing and Allied Health, Scopus, PsychInfo, and Gender Watch databases was designed with a health sciences librarian. All standard synthesis procedures were followed. The Integrated Framework for Health (IFH) guided data synthesis and I followed the PRISMA-ScR guideline in the conduct and reporting of the study. Results: Social characteristics, risk and protective factors, psychosocial resources, and health status factors that influence refugee women’s use of contraception, as well as key knowledge gaps. Conclusion: While each refugee will experience their forced displacement differently, there are patterns relevant to their contraception use that can inform clinical practice, policy, education, and future research.