Understanding Refugees' Health

Abstract

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide. Several factors have a major influence on asylum seekers' health; so, their health profile is markedly different from that of the population in the country of asylum. The aim of this study is to review the major issues physicians need to be aware of when treating asylum seekers, with a special focus on the neurological problems of asylum seekers and refugees. The major impact factors on refugees' health are linked to experiences and exposure (1) in the country of origin, (2) in refugee camps and en route to Europe, and (3) in the process of immigration into the host country and living in European asylum centers. Refugees' health is also affected by psychological problems and by infectious diseases. Additionally, chronic diseases resulting in polymorbidity, cancer, and neurological diseases are easy to overlook and demand special attention. Neurological injuries/diseases may be traumatic (e.g., spinal cord injuries), posttraumatic (e.g., chronic pain syndromes), the result of cerebral infections, or the consequences of starvation (e.g., epilepsy, ataxia, and paraesthesia). The main challenges for physicians are lack of awareness of the asylum seekers' specific health care problems, language and intercultural communication problems, as well as access and integration of asylum seekers into the health care system. The health issues of asylum seekers are manifold and challenging to physicians. Awareness of these conditions is mandatory to ensure good clinical practice for this patient population, which has a huge burden in chronic, infectious, mental, and neurological diseases.

Migrants’ Healthcare Experience: A Meta‐Ethnography Review of the Literature

“…Refugees and asylum seekers have their specific health profiles due to their experiences and exposure in their home countries and during their migration to the host countries. Traumatic injuries, psychological problems, and infectious diseases are prevalent (Müller, Khamis, Srivastava, Exadaktylos, & Pfortmueller, ). With the number of international migrants escalating (United Nations, ), migrant health care becomes an urgent global public health issue as migrants face numerous barriers to access an appropriate level of high‐quality healthcare (World Health Organization, ).…”

Importierte Infektionen des Zentralnervensystems

“…MigrantInnen/Flüchtlinge aus tropischen und/ oder subtropischen Regionen können sich -im Krankheitsfall -mit einer Vielzahl lokaler und regionaler Besonderheiten präsentieren; diese zu erkennen und richtig einzuordnen setzt detailliertes klinisches und epidemiologisches Wissen voraus. Neben "exotischen" Infektionskrankheiten muss bei neurologischen Symptomen auch an Malnutrition, Wasser-und Elektrolytmangel gedacht werden und besonders während der Migration oder in Flüchtlingslagern Nordafrikas oder des Vorderen Orients an physische und psychische Gewalt [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. Eine detaillierte Anamnese bez.…”

Care providers’ views on burden of psychosomatic symptoms of IS-traumatized female refugees participating in a Humanitarian Admission Program in Germany: A qualitative analysis

“…To provide sufficient health care, there is need for more information about the country's health care system for refugees and support for health care professionals in providing culturally appropriate treatments [29]. Physicians have to develop an understanding of asylum seekers' specific health care problems and find a way of appropriate intercultural communication [30]. These difficulties are prevalent across Europe due to policy differences in the country's particular health care services [31].…”