Death, dying, and end-of-life experiences among refugees: a scoping review

Background: The objective of this scoping review is to identify and map the global literature on death, dying, and end-of-life experiences among refugees. The study aims at identifying gaps in the literature produced on the topic and informs areas for future research in the field. Methods: We included articles that met the following inclusion criteria: (1) Population: Refugees and/or internally or externally displaced individuals due to wars, conflicts, nonnatural disasters, or emergencies; (2) Setting: End-of-life phase, dying, and death that took place following the refuge or displacement and reported after the year 1980; and (3) Study Design: All types of studies including but not limited to primary studies, narrative reviews, systematic reviews, news, editorials, commentaries, opinion pieces, technical reports, and policy briefs. A systematic search of the following electronic databases: Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, and JSTOR yielded 11 153 records. The search of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees database Refworld retrieved an additional 7510 records. Results: Seven articles met our inclusion criteria. All articles were coauthored by scholars in universities/research institutes in high-income countries, and except for one, all were conducted in the country of the final settlement of refugees. One article adopted a qualitative approach, another article adopted a mixed-methods approach, one was a narrative review, and 4 articles were reviews of the literature. Three articles discussed access to medical/palliative care among older refugees, and 3 others addressed bereavement and death arrangements. Moreover, one article examined how transmigration and previous experiences from 2 cultural settings in home countries affect the contemplation of death and dying. Implications: Research on end-of-life experiences among refugees is sorely lacking. This study raises awareness of the need for empirical data on end-of-life challenges and palliative care among refugees, thus equipping humanitarian agencies with a more explicit and culturally sensitive lens targeting those with life-limiting conditions.