• Anita E Heywood and Rogelio López-Vélez.
• Level 3, Samuels Building, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Sydney, NSW, Australia.
• J Travel Med. 2019 Feb 1; 26 (2).

Backgroundmigration has reached unprecedented levels, with 3.6% of the world's population living outside their country of birth. Migrants comprise a substantial proportion of high-income country populations, are at increased risk of a range of infectious diseases, compared to native-born populations and may experience worse health outcomes due to barriers accessing timely diagnoses and treatment. Poor access to essential healthcare services can be attributed to several factors, including language and cultural barriers and lack of specific inclusive health policies.MethodsThis review draws on evidence from the immigrant health and travel medicine literature, with a focus on infectious disease risks. It presents strategies to reduce barriers to healthcare access through health promotion and screening programs both at the community and clinic level and the delivery of linguistically and culturally competent care. The Methods: Salud Entre Culturas (SEC) 'Health Between Cultures' project from the Tropical Medicine Unit at the Hospital Ramon y Cajal in Madrid is described as an effective model of care.ResultsFor those providing healthcare to migrant populations, the use of community-consulted approaches are considered best practice in the development of health education, health promotion and the delivery of targeted health services. At the clinic-level, strategies optimizing care for migrants include the use of bilingual healthcare professionals or community-based healthcare workers, cultural competence training of all clinic staff, the appropriate use of trained interpreters and the use of culturally appropriate health promotion materials.ConclusionsMultifaceted strategies are needed to improve access, community knowledge, community engagement and healthcare provider training to provide appropriate care to migrant populations to reduce infectious disease disparities.© International Society of Travel Medicine, 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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