Introduction
The informant interviews provide valuable findings that help indicate areas for improvement to ensure refugees and resettled individuals have full access to healthcare in Nevada. Several common themes for all the informants were identified: a language barrier, discrimination, lack of cultural sensitivity, navigating the US medical system, transportation, and mental health concerns.
Discussion
One of the most interesting findings is the refugees’ lack of concern for their mental health. The issues were identified only by the resettlement workers, yet the struggle to cope with existing problems and the resettlement process can lead to serious health implications. The most surprising finding is the refugees’ transportation concerns. These issues are not usually associated with healthcare, but it is evident now that the problem needs to be addressed.
Several key recommendations can be made based on the interviewees’ responses and suggestions. The struggle with language barriers, which is most prevalent among refugees, can be alleviated by providing better access to interpretation services and language lines. The need for training for working with refugees is evident with the high frequency of encountering culturally insensitive and disrespectful medical staff members. Increasing the time required to get a proper appointment is also essential for improving the refugees’ quality of life and access to healthcare.
Strengths and Limitations
The present research allowed the respondents to be comfortable and share their grievances with access to healthcare by not limiting them to a time frame of the interview and providing them with language support. Additionally, since some issues, like mental health concerns, may not be evident to the refugees, the research also included insight of resettlement workers. This provides a more accurate depiction of the needs of these people from an inside and outside perspective on their struggles. The study’s limitations include a low number of respondents since only 7 refugees were interviewed, meaning that the list of issues can be much longer, with much more perspectives and recommendations for improvement.
Conclusion
Additionally, the Congolese refugees had much high literacy levels than the Afghanistan ones, making it more difficult to generalize the findings and compare the experiences of refugees from different countries.