PONE-D-22-22810How chronic conditions are understood, experienced and managed within African communities in Europe, North America and Australia: a synthesis of qualitative studiesPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Aikins, 

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Additional Editor Comments:

Dear Dr. Aikins,   

Your manuscript “How chronic conditions are understood, experienced and managed within African communities in Europe, North America and Australia: a synthesis of qualitative studies” has been assessed by our reviewers. They have raised a number of points which we believe would improve the manuscript and may allow a revised version to be published in PLOS ONE. Their reports, together with any other comments, are below.

If you are able to fully address these points, we would encourage you to submit a revised manuscript to PLOS ONE.

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Dr. Donovan McGrowder

Associate Editor

Reviewers' comments:

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: I Don't Know

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: This review focuses on the lived experiences of chronic conditions among African

communities in the Global North, focusing on established immigrant communities as well as

recent immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking communities. We conducted a systematic and

narrative synthesis of qualitative studies published from inception to 2022, following a search

from nine databases - MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Social Science

Citation Index, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, SCOPUS and AMED. 39 articles

reporting 32 qualitative studies were included in the synthesis. The studies were conducted in

10 countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden,

Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States) and focused on 748 participants from

27 African countries. The majority of participants believed chronic conditions to be lifelong,

requiring complex interventions. Chronic illness impacted several domains of everyday life -

physical, sexual, psycho-emotional, social, and economic. Participants managed their illness

using biomedical management, traditional medical treatment and faith-based coping, in

isolation or combination. In a number of studies, participants took ‘therapeutic journeys’ –

which involved navigating illness action at home and abroad, with the support of

transnational therapy networks. Multi-level barriers to healthcare were reported across the

majority of studies.

Overall, an interesting contribution. MINOR COMMENTS:

1. Please shorten the Introduction.

2. Please provide a formal concluding paragraph.

Reviewer #2: The manuscript is well-written and scientifically-sound. The authors conducted a review to examine the lived experiences of chronic conditions among African communities in Europe and North America, and other countries in the Global North, focusing on established immigrant communities as well as recent immigrant, refugee and

asylum seeking communities. We were interested in meanings, experiences and illness action

from the perspective of individuals living with chronic conditions. The study is novel and will add to literature.

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How chronic conditions are understood, experienced and managed within African communities in Europe, North America and Australia: a synthesis of qualitative studies

PONE-D-22-22810R1

Dear Dr. Aikins,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Donovan Anthony McGrowder, PhD., MA., MSc

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor:

Dear Dr. Aikins,

The manuscript entitled “How chronic conditions are understood, experienced and managed within African communities in Europe, North America and Australia: a synthesis of qualitative studies” was revised in accordance with the reviewers’ comments and is provisionally accepted pending final checks for formatting and technical requirements.

Regards,

Dr. Donovan McGrowder (Academic Editor)