Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40864283›Full record

ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2026

Quality of mental health care for forcibly displaced children and adolescents in the WHO European region: A scoping review of barriers and facilitators.

Lars Dumke, Shobhana Nagraj, Salma Yusuf, Hanan Abukmail, Erva Nur Cinar, Mohammad S Razai, Gemma Whyatt, Jennifer Hall, Joao Breda, Anastasia Giannaki and 4 more

Abstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Lars DumkeDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. l.dumke@uke.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1180-6849
Shobhana NagrajDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Salma YusufDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Hanan AbukmailInternational Health System Research group, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Erva Nur CinarGuy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Mohammad S RazaiDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Gemma WhyattDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Jennifer HallWHO Athens Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Athens, Greece.
Joao BredaWHO Athens Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Athens, Greece.
Anastasia GiannakiWHO Athens Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Athens, Greece.
Florian ScharpfDepartment of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
Malte BehrendtDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Ingo SchäferDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Eleanor ChatburnDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6745-6737

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Forcibly displaced children and adolescents in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region have high mental health needs, yet few manage to access mental health services, and those who do may encounter inadequate care. This scoping review aimed to identify and synthesize the available evidence on barriers and facilitators to quality mental health care for forcibly displaced children and adolescents in the WHO European Region. We applied the PRISMA guideline extension for scoping reviews, searching five scholarly databases and grey literature published between 2004 and 2025. A total of 7,327 records were screened, with 18 articles included. We used the WHO Quality Standards for Child and Youth Mental Health Services as an analytical framework to map the evidence. The identified studies represented only 7 out of 53 countries in the WHO European Region. Most studies employed qualitative research designs, with a lack of quantitative evidence using quality indicators. Available evidence revealed multiple, intersecting barriers to quality mental health care, including restrictive health care policies, service constraints and a lack of provider competence. Facilitators included the presence of community-based support, networks of interconnected services, task shifting and evidence-based scalable interventions. Major gaps remain in both the data and in the methods used to generate evidence for improving quality of mental health care for forcibly displaced children and adolescents in the WHO European Region. Our review highlighted the discrepancy between the care provided and the recommended WHO Quality Standards for Child and Youth Mental Health Services. There is a need for more targeted efforts to assess and improve the quality of mental health care for forcibly displaced children and adolescents.

Indexed as

Adolescent Health ServicesChild Health ServicesHealth Services AccessibilityMental Health ServicesQuality of Health CareRefugeesAdolescentChildEuropeHumansWorld Health OrganizationAccessBarriersChildrenMental healthMigrantsQualityRefugeesYouth

Identifiers

PMID40864283
PMCPMC12917058

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.