Refugees' Opinions about Healthcare Services: A Case of Turkey

Abstract

Background: Migration is one of the most important social events in human history. In recent years, Turkey hosted a high number of asylum seekers and refugees, primarily because of continuing wars and radical social changes in the Middle East. Methods: Using a random sampling method, Syrian refugees aged 18 and over, who can communicate in Turkish, were reached via personal contact and a total of 714 refugees participated in the study voluntarily. Results: Turkey has mounted with some success and to point out that even though participating refugees in both provinces are young and healthy, almost 50% have bad or worse health status, 61% have chronic diseases, and 55% need regular medication. Participating refugees living in Sanliurfa stated that 'Hospitals are very clean and tidy.' (3.80 +/- 0.80). The answers given to the following statements had the highest mean for the participating refugees living in Kilis; 'Hospitals are clean and tidy.' (3.22 +/- 1.25). Conclusion: Due to financial and human resource deficiencies, there are problems in providing preventive and therapeutic health services, especially to refugees living outside the refugee camps in bad conditions. It is important that refugees are encouraged to apply to family health and community health centers in this context.