Barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students' well-being in higher education: protocol for a systematic integrative review
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
International healthcare students encounter unique hurdles as they pursue education in foreign countries. These challenges, stemming from adjustment to new cultural environments and stressful academic programmes, significantly impact their well-being. Understanding the barriers and facilitators experienced by international healthcare students is crucial for ensuring their successful integration into academic and professional spheres. Most existing reviews focus on specific populations or disciplines, thus limiting their generalisability.
Objective
This systematic integrative review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students' wellbeing in higher education.
Methods
The protocol is guided by the JBI guidance for mixed methods systematic review. The main information sources will include PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost supplemented with manual reference search and citation tracking using Google Scholar. Study selection will be done independently by two reviewers based on predetermined eligibility criteria. Study population will consist of international higher education students enrolled in human health-related disciplines including medicine, pharmacy, nursing and allied healthcare fields. Qualitative and quantitative data relating to barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students' well-being will be extracted using a customised data extraction template in Covidence review management software. Quantitative data will be ‘qualitized’ and integrated with qualitative data using a convergent integrated approach as described in the JBI guidance. The integrated data will then be synthesized using a thematic analysis approach to provide a comprehensive understanding of barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students’ well-being.
Results
This protocol was registered on May 1, 2024, with PROSPERO (registration number CRD42024372785). The initial literature search yielded 2408 papers from the selected databases. The findings of this review will be presented in a narrative format, supported by visualisations such as tables and diagrams. The review is expected to be completed by December 2024.
Conclusions
This systematic integrative review will identify barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students' well-being in higher education. The findings could inform the development of targeted interventions and support initiatives in higher education institutions globally, with the ultimate goal of enhancing well-being as well as academic and professional success of international healthcare students.
International healthcare students encounter unique hurdles as they pursue education in foreign countries. These challenges, stemming from adjustment to new cultural environments and stressful academic programmes, significantly impact their well-being. Understanding the barriers and facilitators experienced by international healthcare students is crucial for ensuring their successful integration into academic and professional spheres. Most existing reviews focus on specific populations or disciplines, thus limiting their generalisability.
Objective
This systematic integrative review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students' wellbeing in higher education.
Methods
The protocol is guided by the JBI guidance for mixed methods systematic review. The main information sources will include PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost supplemented with manual reference search and citation tracking using Google Scholar. Study selection will be done independently by two reviewers based on predetermined eligibility criteria. Study population will consist of international higher education students enrolled in human health-related disciplines including medicine, pharmacy, nursing and allied healthcare fields. Qualitative and quantitative data relating to barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students' well-being will be extracted using a customised data extraction template in Covidence review management software. Quantitative data will be ‘qualitized’ and integrated with qualitative data using a convergent integrated approach as described in the JBI guidance. The integrated data will then be synthesized using a thematic analysis approach to provide a comprehensive understanding of barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students’ well-being.
Results
This protocol was registered on May 1, 2024, with PROSPERO (registration number CRD42024372785). The initial literature search yielded 2408 papers from the selected databases. The findings of this review will be presented in a narrative format, supported by visualisations such as tables and diagrams. The review is expected to be completed by December 2024.
Conclusions
This systematic integrative review will identify barriers and facilitators of international healthcare students' well-being in higher education. The findings could inform the development of targeted interventions and support initiatives in higher education institutions globally, with the ultimate goal of enhancing well-being as well as academic and professional success of international healthcare students.
Date Issued
2024
Date Acceptance
2024-09-30
Citation
JMIR Research Protocols, 2024, 13
ISSN
1929-0748
Publisher
JMIR Publications
Journal / Book Title
JMIR Research Protocols
Volume
13
Copyright Statement
©Yao Xie, Kayode Philip Fadahunsi, Paul Flynn, Simon Taylor-Robinson, Joseph Gallagher, Walter Cullen, John O'Donoghue.
Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 11.12.2024. This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR
Research Protocols, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on
https://www.researchprotocols.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 11.12.2024. This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR
Research Protocols, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on
https://www.researchprotocols.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.researchprotocols.org/2024/1/e59927
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e59927
Date Publish Online
2024-12-11