Bridging borders in healthcare: A bibliometric insight into migration, health, and cultural awareness

Abstract

This study aims to analyse studies conducted on the migration, health, and cultural awareness triangle and published in the Web of Science (WoS) database using bibliometric methods. 405 open-access research articles published between 2014 and 2024, using the specified keywords, were identified and examined. Analyses were conducted using the Bibliometrix (4.3.0) package and the Biblioshiny tool in R Studio. There is a continuous increase in the number of studies on the subject. Indeed, an average increase of 17.63% has been observed since 2014. The affiliations producing the most articles were the University of Copenhagen, Denmark (34), the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands (22), and McGill University, Canada (21). The findings indicate that migrant and refugee health is increasingly prominent on the global health agenda, with cultural awareness, health literacy, and service delivery becoming central themes. The most central and relevant concept in the studies included in the analysis is "cultural competence." Strong matches were found around this theme with the themes "qualitative research," "migrants," and "health communication." The second most concentrated focus is "migration," with matches found with the themes "refugee," "mental health," and "primary care." Consequently, the relatively small number of studies conducted in immigrant-receiving countries like Turkey is striking. This suggests that directly affected countries need to contribute more strongly to the global academic literature. Increasing interdisciplinary research at the national level will contribute to the transformation of healthcare services into a more inclusive and culturally sensitive framework for immigrants.