1.10-P15. Health providers in France: how do they find a way to meet migrants' needs?

International audienceBackground:The Mig-HealthCare project aims to strengthen a community based care model to minimise health inequalities and improve the integration of vulnerable migrants and refugees into local communities. The project is funded by the European Commission for three years and has been deployed in ten European Countries. Firstly, the health profile of vulnerable migrants is described, and then need for health services is defined. A roadmap for a community based care model and pilot health services are developed. We present findings from interviews and focus groups discussions (FGDs) with health providers in facilities receiving vulnerable migrants in France.Methods:As a pilot we interviewed four professionals in the field. From these preliminary results we developed a hypothesis that we tested in FGDs. We conducted three FGDs with health providers (doctors, nurses, social workers, cultural mediators) in different settings in France (Paris, Calais, Nantes) with both NGOs and hospital providers who receive migrant patients. We focused on needs, expectations and capacities of health services. We interviewed 21 health professionals in total and performed a qualitative content analysis.Results:Health providers explained the difficulty of providing care for migrants in the context of increasing patient numbers and decreasing funding. In order to develop a coherent route for migrant patients, they highlighted the support of a shared common culture based on protocols and shared values, and the importance of interinstitutional and interprofessional work. Moreover, professionals highlighted the interpersonal, informal and trusted links between health providers and other professionals that allow them to meet migrants’ needs.Conclusion:In a difficult context, professionals providing health services for migrants base their practices on the construction of trusted links and social networks. This however involves the continuous activation of networks, formal and informal.In order to meet migrants’ needs, health providers tend to base their practices on networking and trusted links