Most health professionals are aware of the amazing diversity of the Australian
population, which is made up of people from over 140 different countries. Of these,
an increasing number have arrived as refugees under Australia's humanitarian
resettlement program.
Research indicates that at least 30% of the 12,000 or so people arriving in Australia
under the humanitarian assistance programmes each year have been exposed to
physical and emotional torture and trauma. They also have well documented health
deficits relating to the health standards in their countries of origin, the level of
deprivation experienced prior to arrival in Australia, and the time they have spent in
transit before arriving in Australia.
The purpose of this study was to review the health status of refugees from the
former Yugoslavia, and to identify the perceived needs of this group, which
represents one of Canberra's largest communities of recently arrived refugees.
Utilising both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, findings showed that the
cohort had significantly lower levels of both physical and mental health than the
wider ACT and Australian population. The difficulties of socialisation of the refugees
into the Australian lifestyle are highlighted. In particular, findings from the study
have demonstrated the lack of appropriate information given to some refugees on
arrival, and the struggles experienced by most of the group with learning a new
language, and coping with unemployment and inadequate housing. The problem of
covert political harassment in Canberra was also described during the interview
process.
Recommendations for improving the situation for these refugees were that
information for refugees prior to, and following arrival in Australia needs to be
consistent and readily available, and there needs to be provision of a formalised
support system from the time of arrival, including a review of language facilities. The
study also recommended that culturally sensitive health promotion and treatment
programs should be incorporated into current health service provision. Nurses are
identified as the appropriate health providers to take a leading role in developing
such programs for refugees, although findings from this study indicate that current
nurse education programs need to place more emphasis on a transcultural
framework for the provision of care.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218842 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Coe, Christine, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Nursing |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Christine Coe |
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