scholarly journals Syrian Refugee Children And Mental Health Trauma

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 32-47
Author(s):  
Kathleen O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Dangerous Place ◽  
Mental Trauma ◽  
Emergency Fund

In 2015, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) named Syria as the most dangerous place on earth to be a child (UNICEF, 2). Since the onset of civil war in 2011, nearly 4.8 million Syrians are refugees outside of Syria and approximately 6 million are internally displaced (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2016). While some refugees have successfully resettled in North American and European nations, many remain in limbo in refugee camps. What is most staggering about the population of affected persons is that nearly half, approximately 6 million, are children (UNICEF, 2016). Nearly all of these children have been subjected to trauma that has manifested in a variety of ways. They have often been subjected to or witnessed violence and have experienced the loss of one or more of their caregivers. Refugees face difficulty accessing psychological and health services and are met with the stigma surrounding mental health in countries including Lebanon and Turkey, regions that many refugee children have fled to. In the absence of these supports, the mental trauma a child is experience can impact learning and development and have disastrous impacts on their future.

scholarly journals Refugee mental health challenges in Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Frank G. Njenga
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
United Nations High Commissioner ◽  
Refugee Mental Health ◽  
High Commissioner

Nearly all low-income countries are either just themselves emerging from conflict or neighbour a country that has just emerged from one. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (http://www.unhcr.org), of the 38 million uprooted people in 2003 worldwide, Africa played host to 13 million internally displaced persons and 3.5 million refugees.

Attitudes of the Vietnamese Community towards Mental Illness

1993 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
On Lien
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Psychiatric Disorder ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Adult Group ◽  
Community Based ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Vietnamese Community

There are approximately 155,000 Vietnamese born people in Australia, with 46,000 in Victoria. The majority came to Australia as refugees. Many were subjected to the reality or threat of war, persecution, imprisonment, discrimination, economic deprivation, violence, the loss of family or other major stressors. These stressors have included the hazards of the escape, lengthy stays in refugee camps and, on arrival in Australia, lack of familiarity with English and with the culture. The Vietnamese Community in Australia was expected to have a high prevalence of mental illness, especially when newly arrived from refugee camps. In a study published in 1986 as “The Price of Freedom” [1] 32% of the young Vietnamese adult group was found to suffer from psychiatric disorder. At follow-up two years later, the prevalence of psychiatric disorder, without any major intervention, had dropped to 5–6%, a prevalence lower than that in the Australian-born community. In addition, the Vietnamese community's use of mental health services (inpatient and community-based) is lower than that of any other ethnic group.

Access to Mental Health Services Among Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine: Results from a Nationwide Survey

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S614-S614 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Roberts ◽  
N. Makhashvili ◽  
J. Javakhishvili
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Emotional Problem ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Internally Displaced

BackgroundThere are an estimated 1.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine as a result of the armed conflict in Ukraine.Objectives(i) Measure the burden of key mental disorders (PTSD, depression and anxiety); (ii) examine rates of utilization of health and psychosocial support services; (iii) examine the patterns of utilisation of services.MethodsThe study used a cross-sectional survey design and was conducted throughout Ukraine between March and May 2016 with 2203 IDPs aged 18 years and over. Time-location sampling was chosen as a probabilistic sampling method. Outcome measures were the PCL-5 for PTSD, the PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety. Descriptive and multivariate regression analyses were used.ResultsOf the 2203 respondents, 703 reported experiencing a mental health or emotional problem over the previous 12 months and were also screened positive with PTSD, depression or anxiety. Of these 703, 180 had sought care (with sources of care to be given in the presentation). Therefore, 523 respondents did not seek care, equating to an overall treatment gap of 74%, (74% for PTSD, 71% for depression and 70% for anxiety). Key reasons for not utilising treatment included preferring to use their own medications (n = 176); unaffordability of health services (n = 118) or medications (n = 140); poor understanding by health care providers (n = 123); poor quality of services (n = 78) and stigma/embarrassment (n = 41).ConclusionsThe findings support the need for a scaled-up, comprehensive and trauma informed response to provision of the mental health care of IDPs in Ukraine.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Health Status and Health Care Needs of Drought-Related Migrants in the Horn of Africa—A Qualitative Investigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (16) ◽  
pp. 5917
Author(s):  
Kristina Lindvall ◽  
John Kinsman ◽  
Atakelti Abraha ◽  
Abdirisak Dalmar ◽  
Mohamed Farah Abdullahi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Horn Of Africa ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, situated in the Horn of Africa, are highly vulnerable to climate change, which manifests itself through increasing temperatures, erratic rains and prolonged droughts. Millions of people have to flee from droughts or floods either as cross-border refugees or as internally displaced persons (IDPs). The aim of this study was to identify knowledge status and gaps regarding public health consequences of large-scale displacement in these countries. After a scoping review, we conducted qualitative in-depth interviews during 2018 with 39 stakeholders from different disciplines and agencies in these three countries. A validation workshop was held with a selection of 13 interviewees and four project partners. Malnutrition and a lack of vaccination of displaced people are well-known challenges, while mental health problems and gender-based violence (GBV) are less visible to stakeholders. In particular, the needs of IDPs are not well understood. The treatment of mental health and GBV is insufficient, and IDPs have inadequate access to essential health services in refugee camps. Needs assessment and program evaluations with a patients’ perspective are either lacking or inadequate in most situations. The Horn of Africa is facing chronic food insecurity, poor population health and mass displacement. IDPs are an underserved group, and mental health services are lacking. A development approach is necessary that moves beyond emergency responses to the building of long-term resilience, the provision of livelihood support and protection to reduce displacement by droughts.

scholarly journals A socio-ecological analysis of risk, protective and promotive factors for the mental health of Burundian refugee children living in refugee camps

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Scharpf ◽  
Getrude Mkinga ◽  
Faustine Bwire Masath ◽  
Tobias Hecker
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Refugee Youth ◽  
Promotive Factors

Abstract Children and adolescents’ mental health risk and resilience arise from a complex interplay of factors on several socio-ecological levels. However, little is known about the factors that shape the mental health of refugee youth living in refugee camps close to ongoing conflict. We conducted a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 217 Burundian refugee children aged 7–15 and their mothers residing in refugee camps in Tanzania to investigate associations between risk, protective and promotive factors from various ecological levels (individual, microsystem, exosystem), and children’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, internalizing and externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. Data were collected using structured clinical interviews and analyzed using multiple regression models. Exposure to violence across all contexts and engagement coping were risk factors for PTSD symptoms and internalizing problems, while only violence by mothers seemed to increase children’s vulnerability for externalizing problems. A differential impact of violence exposures on prosocial behavior was observed. Higher-quality friendships appeared to protect youth from PTSD symptoms and externalizing problems, while they also promoted children’s prosocial behavior, just as mothers’ social support networks. Prevention and intervention approaches should integrate risk, protective and promotive factors for refugee youth’s mental health across multiple ecological contexts and take into account context-specific and adaptive responses to war and displacement.

scholarly journals A Scoping Review of the Health of Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced Women in Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwakemi C. Amodu ◽  
Magdalena S. Richter ◽  
Bukola O. Salami
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Reproductive Health Services ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Care Giving ◽  
South Central ◽  
Review Team

Armed conflict and internal displacement of persons create new health challenges for women in Africa. To outline the research literature on this population, we conducted a review of studies exploring the health of internally displaced persons (IDP) women in Africa. In collaboration with a health research librarian and a review team, a search strategy was designed that identified 31 primary research studies with relevant evidence. Studies on the health of displaced women have been conducted in South- Central Africa, including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); and in Eastern, East central Africa, and Western Africa, including Eritrea, Uganda, and Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria. We identified violence, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, and malaria and as key health areas to explore, and observed that socioeconomic power shifts play a crucial role in predisposing women to challenges in all four categories. Access to reproductive health services was influenced by knowledge, geographical proximity to health services, spousal consent, and affordability of care. As well, numerous factors affect the mental health of internally displaced women in Africa: excessive care-giving responsibilities, lack of financial and family support to help them cope, sustained experiences of violence, psychological distress, family dysfunction, and men’s chronic alcoholism. National and regional governments must recommit to institutional restructuring and improved funding allocation to culturally appropriate health interventions for displaced women.

scholarly journals Child Psychological Adjustment to War and Displacement: A Discriminant Analysis of Resilience and Trauma in Syrian Refugee Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 2575-2588
Author(s):  
Veronese Guido ◽  
Pepe Alessandro ◽  
Giordano Francesca
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
Linear Discriminant ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractThe ongoing war in Syria has led to the displacement of 12 million people since 2011, with minors representing 40% of all refugees. Syrian children living in refugee camps are at risk of developing a wide range of mental health problems, given their previous and ongoing exposure to episodes of violence, disruption of family ties, and discontinuous access to education. In this study, we drew on the salutogenic paradigm to investigate whether, and to what extent, high/low levels of resilience were associated with other indicators of mental health and post-traumatic response in Syrian children living in refugee camps. The sample was composed of 311 Syrian children living in Jordanian refugee camps as a consequence of the war in Syria. We administered quantitative self-report measures to assess participants’ exposure to trauma, individual levels of resilience, and mental health, performing discriminant analysis to examine the association between resilience and trauma/mental health. Syrian children living in Jordanian refugee camps reported intense exposure to traumatic events. The linear discriminant equation supported adoption of the function [Wilk’s Lambda (Λ = 0.827)]: lower levels of resilience were associated with trauma symptoms (re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal) and emotional problems, while higher levels of resilience were associated with pro-social behaviours. The findings of the present study suggest that resilience acts as a protective factor buffering children from the consequences of trauma and challenging life conditions. We discuss the implications for interventions designed to promote the wellbeing and mental health of children living in refugee camps.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document