Abstract
Background Migrants and refugees with low language proficiency (LLP) in the dominant language of their host country have a higher risk of suffering from certain mental health disorders compared with nonmigrant populations. They are also more likely to experience a lack of access to mental healthcare due to languagerelated and culturerelated barriers. As part of the MentalHealth4All project, a digital multilingual communication and information platform was developed to promote access to mental healthcare for LLP migrants and refugees across Europe. This paper describes the study protocol for evaluating the platform in practice, among both health and/or social care providers (HSCPs) and LLP migrants and refugees. Methods and analysis We will conduct a pretest–posttest crossnational survey study to evaluate the platform’s effect evaluation (primary objective) and process evaluation (secondary objective). The primary outcomes (measured at T0, T2 and T3) are four dimensions of access to mental healthcare services: availability, approachability, acceptability and appropriateness of mental healthcare. Secondary outcomes (measured at T2) are: actual usage of the platform (ie, tracking data), perceived ease of use, usefulness of content, comprehensibility of information, attractiveness of content and emotional support. Participants will be recruited from nine European countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and the UK. Using convenience sampling through professional networks/organisations and key figures, we aim to include at least 52 HSCPs (ie, 6–10 per country) and 260 LLP migrants (ie, 30–35 per country). After completing a pretest questionnaire (T0), participants will be requested to use the platform, and HSCPs will participate in an additional personalised training (T1). Next, participants will fill out a posttest questionnaire (T2) and will be requested to participate in a second posttest questionnaire (T3, about 6–8 weeks after T2) to answer additional questions on their experiences through a brief phone interview (T3 is optional for migrants/refugees). STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY ⇒ The broad geographical and linguistic coverage of the MentalHealth4All consortium ensures recruitment of diverse groups of low language proficiency (LLP) migrants and refugees and health and/or social care providers (HSCPs). ⇒ The complementary skills, expertise and experiences of the consortium partners in working and collaborating with LLP migrants and refugees enable us to draw on existing collaborations for data collection. ⇒ Although this study’s main challenge concerns the recruitment/dropout of LLP migrants and refugees, previous studies in the project have proven the feasibility of including these populations in our research. ⇒ To ensure implementation in practice, HSCPs follow a webinar and personalised training session in which they learn how to (overcome barriers to) inte-