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An Integrated Approach to Syrian Refugees’ Health Care in Lebanon



Author(s)

Guita Hourani and Jasmin Lilian Diab

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DOI:10.17265/2328-7136/2018.03.005

Lebanese Emigration Research Center, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Notre Dame University-Louaize, P.O. Box 72, Zouk Mikael 1001, Lebanon

The purpose of this paper is to learn from the integrated health care approach for the Syrian Armenian refugees by the HKCC (Howard Karagheusian Commemorative Corporation) in Burj Hammoud in Lebanon from the perspective of the beneficiaries themselves, i.e. the Syrian Armenian refugees. One hundred families who had been residing in Burj Hammoud and who had been regularly benefiting from the health services of the HKCC for at least one year were interviewed. The interviewees used a semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed and emerging themes were mapped. The Syrian Armenian refugees who participated in this study generally expressed their satisfaction with the equitable access afforded by the HKCC’s integrated health care approach. There were several reasons why the HKCC’s integrated approach to serve refugees and the local population on equal footing was given positive reviews by the sampled refugees. Based on the responses of the refugees, these reasons are mainly (a) the convenient location of the center, which is walking distance for most refugees; (b) the ability of the treating doctors to communicate with the refugees in Armenian, which facilitates diagnosis and understanding of the health problems; (c) suitable opening hours; (d) friendly staff; and (e) thorough doctors. The results do not statistically represent the overall refugee population that is served by the HKCC; due to the study’s limited demographic scope, the results cannot be generalized. This limitation was due to lack of funding to cover the whole beneficiary Syrian Armenian refugee population. The HKCC’s approach has helped in providing access to treatment and preventive measures to a refugee population that was in need of it; as a consequence, it may have improved the health outcomes of this refugee population, especially in regard to the immunization of children. An integrated approach to healthcare which provides “equal ability by refugees and host nationals to access the same healthcare resources from the same providers” seemed to have been successful in the case of the HKCC. This paper provided first exploration of an integrated health approach for refugee healthcare provision in Lebanon.

Syrian refugees, Armenian, integrated health services, Burj Hammoud, Lebanon.