More information
Description
During 2020 and 2021, devastating earthquakes affected the County of City of Zagreb, as well as Sisak-Moslavina County and parts of Zagreb and Karlovac Counties; where a large number of Croatian refugees in integration live. The experience of surviving a natural disaster covers the entire range of losses, which causes significant psychological stress to the general population, including refugees, and causes the heightened need for translators in the departments of institutions where psychological support activities are performed. Jesuit Refugee Service often assists refugees in visiting health services, noting that interpreters are not available by the system, which makes communication between doctors and patients difficult. NGO translators are available depending on project funding and cannot be a continuous support in quality refugee health care. Therefore, there is a need to provide long-term available translators to health services so that they can work well with refugee patients.
The aim of the proposed project is to advocate for the improvement of mental health services for refugees in integration in Croatia and the provision of adequate professional assistance with the help of interpreters in health care institutions in areas affected by earthquakes. Project activities include conducting research on the level of psychological distress of refugees and presenting the results of research to relevant stakeholders in the fields of advocacy for refugee rights, service delivery and assurance of health services in local communities. Target groups are: refugees in the quake-affected areas of the four counties, who will participate in our research; stakeholders in the refugee integration process (CSOs, relevant institutions); and relevant authorities to which we will present the research and suggest methods for ensuring better health care. The final beneficiaries of the project are Croatian refugees who seek access to mental health care.
Summary of project results
The project fulfilled its original intention. Project activities included conducting research on the level of psychological distress of refugees and presenting the results of research to relevant stakeholders in the fields of refugee rights advocacy, service delivery and quality assurance of health services in local communities.
The JRS has had several successful collaborations with the health system, providing refugees with professional support and treatment. We believe that the additional education and sensitization of JRS employees and volunteers, as well as the increase in their competence to sensitize health system employees on this topic, which they indirectly received through this project (listening and learning from the results of research) contributed to this positive shift - whose positive results are visible from individual cases and relate to direct contact between medical staff and staff / volunteers of the JRS.
We achieved our goal by conducting and presenting research on the psychological distress of refugees, as well as advocacy activities based on results.
The study examined the level of psychological distress on a sample of refugees located in four earthquake-affected counties. In addition, a semi-structured interview was used to gather information on various aspects of refugee life (health, financial situation, employment…) in order to gain insight into the stressors that this population faces in the post-migration phase.
We presented the results of the research to the stakeholders of the integration sector through asylum and integration coordination meetings, where we jointly sought possible solutions and recommendations for further action. The results of the research with a description of the issue and with a discussion, as well as proposals for improving the quality of health care, we presented to decision makers and relevant institutions. Through these activities, we tried to achieve the focus of relevant stakeholders and decision-makers in the refugee integration sector in the Republic of Croatia on this problem and the adoption of concrete measures for its current and long-term solution.