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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1454548
"They just left me": People seeking asylum, mental and physical health, and structural violence in the UK's institutional accommodation
Provisionally accepted- 1 University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- 2 Independent researcher, London, United Kingdom
This paper presents the findings of a novel post-hoc analysis of data collected by Doctors of the World UK (DOTW UK) between 2020 and 2022 from people seeking asylum housed in repurposed hotels and barracks in England. We analyzed qualitative and quantitative data on individuals' mental and physical health using a structural violence analytical framework. Institutional housing and associated poor living conditions were reported to contribute deteriorations in physical and mental health which collectively undermined wellbeing. Inactions around urgent and life-threatening health conditions were seen as placing individuals' lives and long-term health at risk. Provision of housing does not currently meet people's needs and actively undermines their mental and physical health. We conclude that approaches to accommodation provision need to be adapted to ensure individuals' right to health is realized. We outline recommendations for policy and future research.
Keywords: institutional accommodation, people seeking asylum, Structural violence, Mental Health, Access to healthcare
Received: 25 Jun 2024; Accepted: 04 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Phillimore, Fu, Jones, Lessard-Phillips and Tatem. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jenny Phillimore, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
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