The COVID-19 pandemic has had –and continues to
have– tremendous impact on wellbeing, especially
amongst people at risk of vulnerability such as ethnic
minorities, homeless people, undocumented migrants
and asylum seekers. This report examines the wellbeing
of vulnerable migrants in the UK during the early months of the
pandemic (March-September 2020). It explores the
characteristics of individuals at risk of vulnerability
during that period: their health status and their
wellbeing needs as well as the healthcare barriers
they have experienced. Findings are reported from
a mixed methods study which analysed data drawn
from Doctors of the World (DOTW) UK service data
collected before and during the pandemic. The analysis
was undertaken in order to highlight the situation of
individuals at risk of vulnerability, especially with regard
to their wellbeing, identify barriers and issues that
may be linked to vulnerability, and provide potential
solutions to deal with such barriers.
This work was undertaken as part of the Vulnerable
Migrants’ Wellbeing Project funded by the Nuffield
Foundation with further funding from the ESRC
IAA funds.