Doctoral Dissertation Research: Sociopolitical Interaction and Health Outcomes in Refugee-Hosting Communities

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award examines the health implications in a region of long-term refugee settlement. The process of creating and maintaining refugee settlements has a significant impact on local landscapes, both physical and social, and therefore has implications not only for refugees, but for also for the people who live in the areas where refugees have been forced to settle. This project will specifically consider the health outcomes of refugee communities and their neighbors, as well as illuminate the relationship between the political acts needed to create refugee camps and the outcome of those acts as related to health and mortality. This project will consider the case of Congolese refugee communities in western Uganda to investigate this issue. The investigators will conduct an analysis of epidemiologic surveillance data for 1992-2012 from clinics in the study area to identify morbidity rates and trends for key populations. The investigators will also conduct a household survey, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with refugees, their local neighbors, and representatives from the authorities that run the camps in order to understand the local political process of refugee camp settlements. This project will contribute epidemiologic information that will be of use to groups involved in providing humanitarian aid in refugee areas. It will produce findings that have the potential to inform governments and humanitarian aid organizations including those from the United States, the United Nations, and relevant non-governmental organizations. Furthermore, the project will contribute to the ongoing debate about the status and treatment of refugees regionally and globally. Worldwide, violent conflicts continue to displace millions of people, many of whom subsist precariously in poor places near conflict zones. Both the health and wellbeing of the displaced and those they come to live among are impacted by this process and this investigation will shed lights on ways to improve the outcomes of these communities. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement (DDRI) award this project will provide critical career support to a promising student researcher.