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MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY AND THE WELLBEING OF REFUGEES: A CASE STUDY OF KYAKA II REFUGEE SETTLEMENT, KYEGEGWA DISTRICT.
Despite facing its own development challenges, Uganda is currently host to over 1,525,197 refugees and asylum seekers (OPM and UNHCR, 2022) refugees, the largest number in the country‘s history, and continues to receive simultaneous arrivals from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi (UNHCR, 2019). Worldwide, Uganda‘s model for resettling refugees is renowned for its emphasis on self-sufficiency. In refugee health care, there is a tendency for organizations and humanitarian aid projects to focus on physical needs of the individuals: the provision of food, water, shelter, etc. Notwithstanding being fully aware of the traumatic experiences amongst refugees, there are rarely attempts to address the substantial psychosocial disorders within the population. There are many examples where aid relief programs have completely neglected this aspect of refugee‘s wellbeing in terms of their mental health. For example, trainings provided to field health staff do not typically include background regarding psychosocial and mental illness, and in the case that proper mental health service delivery is provided, humanitarian aid workers fail to provide their resources or support. Furthermore, this study examined mental health service delivery and its impact on the wellbeing of refugees, a case study of Kyaka II refugee settlement in Kyegegwa District Structured and unstructured interviews were employed, with select mental health providers where 37 refugees were purposely sampled, 20 counselors conveniently sampled and 20 clinical psychologists randomly sampled with the use of questionnaires and interview guide for major key informants. Most of the respondents agreed that refugees suffer from mental illness and that people with mental illness are taken to be those who cannot think for themselves, and often delay seeking help due to a belief that it is due to supernatural powers, therefore start off treatment by going to traditional healers, while professional mental health services are perceived to be expensive to be accessed. In conclusion therefore, as Uganda continues with its open-door policy to refugees due to its unstable neighborhood, the Government of Uganda through the Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR, the UN Refugee should incorporate all humanitarian and aid organizations to have a psychosocial component that caters for the psychosocial wellbeing of refugees be it providing water, sanitation and hygiene and food and non-food items.
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