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Evaluation of the Medical Interpreter and Patient Guidance Training in the Migrant Health Services: The Case Study in Turkey
Abstract and Figures
Turkey is a country that embraces many migrants from Africa and the Middle East especially in the last 10 years due to its geopolitical position. The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey as of February 2019 is reported to be 3.644.342. In particular, benefiting from the most basic human rights such as nutrition, education and health of migrants is an issue given the importance by the Republic of Turkey. In this context, important cultural differences arise for the immigrants. Language is an important obstacle to access to health services, especially in Arabic speaking patients. In order to facilitate access to health services and to improve the quality, a project has been developed covering the training and employment of medical interpreters and patient guides by the Turkey’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization. With this project, 960 medical translators were employed and trained 2016 to 2019. The research provides an evaluation covering the training phase of this project. In this context, the aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program. In the study, an interactive training program, including medical terminology, health sector organization of Turkey, communication skills and medical ethics was implemented to the bilingual interpreters and patient guides. Participants completed a 50-question pre-test and post-test designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Training was deemed successful as all participants scored higher on the post-test than the pre-test. The results obtained from the research include important lessons that guide the planning of similar trainings.
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... Such training has been shown to be effective in improving the competencies of medical interpreters and patient guides. This approach not only aids in ensuring better healthcare access for refugees but also highlights the critical role of cultural and linguistic competence in healthcare delivery [36] (Figure 4). ...
... Strategies and interventions for addressing health needs of displaced persons and refugees in Türkiye[4,24,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36]37]. ...
Background and Aims
Although every human has the right to overall well‐being, refugees worldwide often sustain inadequate healthcare. Türkiye, hosting a large refugee population, raises public concerns about providing equitable healthcare. This study aims to evaluate the Turkish healthcare system's effectiveness and limitations in addressing refugee health needs, identify challenges in accessing care, assess the impact of policies, and propose recommendations for improving refugee life quality.
Methods
We conducted a comprehensive review of the literature using databases like PubMed, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Our search focused on refugees impacted by recent crises and relevant policies. Keywords included “Refugee population in Türkiye,” “Barriers to accessing healthcare,” and “Turkish healthcare system.” We included English‐language articles relevant to our research objectives and empirical data, excluding studies not focused on refugees or migrants in Türkiye, and those published before 2010.
Results
The review emphasizes the ongoing disparities in healthcare access for refugees in Türkiye. Despite significant efforts, barriers such as the locations of refugee camps, legal restrictions, and language differences continue to hinder healthcare access. Moreover, the sheer number of refugees exacerbates these issues. The recommendations focus on addressing these issues, ensuring better healthcare access, and improving refugee integration.
Conclusion
The large influx of refugees into Türkiye has led to an unequal distribution of resources, creating substantial challenges in providing equitable healthcare. Chronic conditions and mental health disorders among refugees further highlight these issues. This underscores the need for international policy improvements, legal reforms, innovative solutions like telemedicine, and a more comprehensive healthcare approach to support refugees. Reducing social stigma and improving refugee integration into the healthcare system is crucial for achieving better health outcomes.
After the Arab Spring uprising, Syria descended into a civil war in 2011. By March 2016, the United Nations reported that 13.5 million Syrians required humanitarian assistance, including 6.6 million internally displaced persons and more than 4.8 million refugees outside of Syria. Turkey is currently hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees—more than 2.7 million. A limited number of refugees are living in camps settled around the border, and others are spread throughout Turkey. This explosive and unexpected increase in the Syrian population in Turkey has had several negative impacts on health and social determinants. The overload of healthcare facilities has led to shortages in childhood immunization programs, drugs, and access to clean water and food supplies. According to Ministry of Health data, more than 7.5 million Syrians were examined at outpatient clinics, and 299,240 were hospitalized; most of those hospitalized were injured and wounded victims who require and have been occupying intensive care units. The refugees generally live in crowded and unsanitary conditions, which may lead to the spread of respiratory, skin, gastrointestinal, and genital system infections. Currently, measles, poliomyelitis, leishmaniasis, and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are the reemerging infections being most frequently recorded. Multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections seem to be an increasing problem in gunshot or surgical wounds. Hepatitis A, malaria, and varicella have been seen with a high incidence among the refugees. There are many problems waiting to be resolved for health and living standards in Turkey.
Much of the existing research literature on the health of immigrant populations does not address the health care experiences of refugees, even though they likely experience unique and different health care needs relative to economic or family class immigrants. The objective of this paper is to explore the systemic barriers to health care access experienced by Canada's refugee populations. The paper focuses on understanding these challenges as expressed by health and social service providers at the local level in Hamilton, Ontario. Data from interviews illustrate the impact of these systemic barriers for both refugees and providers. The paper examines issues of interpretation/language, cultural competency, health care coverage, isolation, poverty, and transportation in terms of health care and availability of services. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.