Refugee health is a matter of growing concern, made worse by events in Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, Libya, Central America and elsewhere. While according to international convention, meeting the healthcare needs of refugees can be asserted as a human right, obligations to satisfy that right are necessary but not sufficient to ensure that those needs are met. In addition to political will and social commitment, a well-trained workforce is also needed. Nurses and other healthcare professionals need the right skills to treat this vulnerable and culturally diverse population. Given the nature and scale of the problem, there is a case for making refugee health a key component in global health education programs, especially in relation to nurses’ continuing education and professional development. Displaced persons could find themselves seeking treatment in cities far removed from the situations that drove people from their homes, and while education may not change political realities on the ground, it could help nurses and other healthcare professionals respond more effectively to local needs for healthcare provision. Refugees and displaced persons eventually become part of the community (outside of camps and settlements), meaning that any healthcare professional could be asked to provide care, for instance, in areas of London with well-established refugee communities. However, these patients are sometimes hard to reach because of language, cultural and other types of barriers, and a broad mix of skills could be needed, not all of which may be included in current curricula. I produced a set of intended learning objectives to help fill this gap.
Dr Roger Worthington has a PhD in philosophy from the State University of New York (Buffalo) and an MA in medical ethics from Keele University (UK). Specializing in medical education and global health policy, Roger now works as an independent researcher. He previously held academic positions in the UK as well as honorary positions in Australia and the USA (at Yale University School of Medicine), plus advisory roles with public bodies in several countries. Based in the UK, he runs professional development workshops within the NHS; in addition, he mentors young scholars from around the world. He is an associate editor for BMC (Springer) Globalization and Health and Editor-in-Chief for Scholarly Review.
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