The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Rohingya refugees with pre-existing health problems in Bangladesh

Palit, Somen; Yang, Huifang; Li, Jianping; Khan, Abdullah; Hasan, Mohammad Jahid

doi:10.1186/s13031-022-00443-3

Cited by 27 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Refugee communities worldwide experienced stressors similar to those experienced by refugees in Gaza, such as increased GBV, nancial strain, food insecurity, and poor access to education and were all found to exert a negative impact on mental health during the pandemic (35)(36)(37)(38). Protective measures, such as physical distancing, were found to be very challenging, if not impossible, for refugees living in different encampments across the world (39).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social determinants and mental health needs of Palestine refugees and UNRWA responses in Gaza during the Covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative assessment

Jamal

ElKhatib

Albaik

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Refugees are particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of the pandemic due to pre-existing challenges, but the impact of the pandemic on this group remains to be understood. In this study, we aimed to uncover the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of Palestine refugees in Gaza, disentangling the role of social determinants. We further aimed to explore views on the effectiveness and acceptability of policies and strategies the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) implemented during the pandemic.Methods: This qualitative study took place between August and November 2020. Twenty-nine key-informant interviews were conducted with UNRWA Headquarters, Gaza Field Office, Health and Relief and Social Service staff and with community leaders and members residing in Rafah and Jabalia camps. We collected information on UNRWA’s strategies, people’s perception of those strategies, and personal and professional stressors during the pandemic. Data was coded based on the framework for social determinant of mental health. Results: Interview data suggest that the pandemic and social determinants mutually aggravated one another resulting in a major impact on the physical and mental health of Gazans. Women, children and daily-paid workers were acutely more disadvantaged than other groups of the community, experiencing violence and anxieties. Financial strain, violence, food insecurity, and disruption in the education process were reported by all participants. UNRWA reconfigured its methods of service delivery to continue the provision of essential services. The strategies enacted by UNRWA during the pandemic were generally perceived as helpful, yet not enough to respond to Gazans’ needs.Conclusion: The pandemic serves as a stark reminder of the need to broaden the public health response beyond disease management and prevention to address social determinants in order to improve refugees’ health and decrease their vulnerability to future shocks. UNRWA deployed telemedicine and mental telehealth services at short notice and the need to evaluate these new modes of remote service delivery is essential. The use of a hybrid approach, a combination of online and face-to-face therapy, could be useful as a long-term solution.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social determinants and mental health needs of Palestine refugees and UNRWA responses in Gaza during the Covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative assessment

Jamal

ElKhatib

Albaik

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, Tarannum et al, 2019 reported the findings from an intervention study. The remaining were qualitative study (n = 3) (Zaman et al, no date;Wells et al, 2019;Welton-Mitchell et al, 2019), mixed method study (n = 2) (Shaw et al, 2019;Christensen, Ahsan and Mandal, 2020), longitudinal study (n = 2) (O'connor and Seager, 2021;Palit et al, 2022) design.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the studies (n = 16) were conducted in Bangladesh (Zaman et al, no date;Riley et al, 2017Tarannum et al, 2019;Wells et al, 2019;Mahmuda et al, 2019;Christensen, Ahsan and Mandal, 2020;Hossain et al, 2020Tay et al, 2021;Haque, 2021b, 2021a;O'connor and Seager, 2021;Awang, Mohamad and Maria Awaluddin, 2022;Palit et al, 2022), for example, Wells et al, 2019 conducted a qualitative study on Rohingya refugees, living in the camps, whereas some studies (n = 8) were conducted in Malaysia (A. K. Tay et al, 2019;Alvin Kuowei Tay et al, 2019;Shaw et al, 2019;Welton-Mitchell et al, 2019;Kaur et al, 2020;Tay, Khat Mung, et al, 2020;Tay et al, 2022), such as a cross sectional study by Tay et al, 2019.…”

Section: Countrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Almost 70% (n = 17) of the included studies reported the setting from where they recruited their participants. Among them 64% (n = 11) study recruited participants from the refugee camp of the Rohingya population (Zaman et al, no date;Riley et al, 2017Mahmuda et al, 2019;Wells et al, 2019;Hossain et al, 2020O'Connor and Seager, 2021;Tay et al, 2021;Palit et al, 2022), for example, Zaman et al, 2019 recruited 117 Rohingya female from Bangladesh Rohingya camp to assess the status of their wellbeing. Besides, the study participants were also included from the community having special accommodations designed for them (n = 4) (Alvin Kuowei Tay et al, 2019;Welton-Mitchell et al, 2019;Kaur et al, 2020;Tay et al, 2022), hospital outpatient section (n = 2) (Tarannum et al, 2019;Awang, Mohamad and Maria Awaluddin, 2022).…”

Section: Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mental health and wellbeing of Rohingya refugees: A scoping review

Das¹,

Prima²,

Rimu³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Rohingya population are being exiled form Myanmar during several humanitarian crises since 1978 with a recent spike in 2017. Reportedly, the violence, persecution and trauma have posed grievous impacts on the mental health of these forcibly displaced people. This scoping review aims to synthesize the evidence regarding overall epidemiologic burden of psychological problems of Rohingya refugees with their associated factors. We evaluated five major databases and additional sources till 08/05/2022 and included articles according to the eligibility criteria following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) checklist. Out of 331 citations retrieved from multiple sources, we included 24 articles in this review. Most of the articles reported high prevalence of different psychological symptoms of Rohingya refugees, such as, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, persistent complex bereavement disorder, feeling of afraid etc. Several correlates of mental health problems were reported, including older age, female, illiteracy, experiences of torture, sexual violence, unemployment, food insecurity, statelessness, separation from family, lack of healthcare access, overcrowded and unhygienic campsites, preexisting health problems etc. There is huge gaps in community level intervention studies, however, Group Integrated Adapt Therapy (IAT-G) and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services are widely used. The available evidence suggests a huge burden of mental health disorders with several biopsychosocial factors that may assist in better policymaking and implementation of multilayered approaches like improving healthcare access, training healthcare providers, more community-based intervention studies, and introducing tele-mental health services for Rohingya refugees.

show abstract

“…10 This includes mental health, for which problems have been exacerbated in displaced populations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 11 There is often a limit to the global attention span, as we see headlines discussed one week and overlooked a few weeks later. As with COVID-19 diverting resources within a population, a new global crisis can divert resources among populations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%