A review of the literature on the health beliefs, health status, and use of services in the refugee and asylum seeker population and of appropriate health care interventions.

The Health ASERT Programme Wales is a research programme commissioned by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer,Welsh Assembly Government to investigate health promotion issues among Minority Ethnic Groups, Refugees/Asylum seekers, and Gypsy Travellers.The acronym ASERT stands for Asylum Seekers, Ethnic minorities, Refugees and Travellers. Research was undertaken by the Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health, Middlesex University and the Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent at Canterbury between February 2003 and March 2004.The study aimed to enhance the evidence base on health promotion issues related to minority ethnic groups, refugees/asylum seekers and Gypsy Travellers in Wales in order to inform policy and programme development in the Welsh Assembly Government’s Health Promotion Division (now known as Public Health Improvement Division) and elsewhere in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer.The study objectives were to: identify gaps in the existing evidence base of health needs and health promotion issues for the study groups; identify existing good practice of health services and promotion for the study groups; explore ways of delivering health promotion policy/programmes targeting these groups in a culturally and socially sensitive manner; identify issues for further research.