Introduction
I have chosen to advocate for refugees and asylum seekers in the UK who suffer from stroke. This group was selected because the individuals often encounter a myriad of healthcare challenges, including forced displacement, limited access to healthcare, language barriers, and cultural differences. Asif and Kienzler (2022) explained in their study that, in most cases, forced displacement from home countries results in this group losing their medical records and continuity of care. This, in the end, affects the quality of care they receive – the healthcare providers may fail to develop a clear understanding of their medical history, hindering their ability to address their specific needs effectively.
The same views were echoed by Farnham and Goldstone (2023), who noted that most refugees and asylum seekers may not be fluent in English, which affects their ability to express their health concerns. This is also evident through cultural differences, which hinder their ability to access and receive the necessary medical services. Therefore, I am highly motivated to advocate for this group because of the many barriers they encounter. These barriers, in the end, lead to health inequities and inadequate support systems.
Need for Advocacy
There is an urgent need to advocate for the health needs of refugees and asylum seekers, especially those who have suffered from stroke. This group, besides experiencing most of the challenges explicated above, is at high risk of stroke due to factors such as limited access to preventive healthcare services, stress, and trauma (Mudyarabikwa et al., 2022). Similarly, this group may fail to receive appropriate care due to language barriers and unfamiliarity with the UK’s healthcare system (Farnham & Goldstone, 2023). These challenges have a significant impact not only on the affected individuals but also on their families, communities, and society as a whole. For instance, continued delay in seeking healthcare is one of the reasons for the high mortality rate (Stewart, 2021). In addition to this, most people in this group find it difficult to access essential post-stroke support services due to challenges with resettlement – it disrupts continuity of care. This further demonstrates why it is important to advocate for this group with a focus on addressing the burden and impact of stroke by ensuring they receive timely and high-quality healthcare.
Intended Audience
The intended audience for this advocacy is healthcare professionals, specifically those in primary care settings such as general practitioners and nurses. According to Dineen-Griffin et al. (2019), healthcare professionals in primary care settings play an important role in the initial assessment and diagnosis. Therefore, this audience is in a better position to offer the necessary support and care to this group.
As observed further by Dineen-Griffin et al. (2019), nurses are usually the first point of contact for patients, placing them in a better position when it comes to coordinating the care and support needed for stroke survivors. Targeting healthcare professionals will ensure the advocacy efforts achieve their intended purpose of ensuring refugees and asylum seekers who have experienced a stroke receive timely and high-quality care. Most importantly, this audience is well-positioned to identify and address the specific needs of this population by providing appropriate referrals to specialists, as well as helping them navigate the healthcare system.
However, to achieve this, this advocacy will utilize the agency as the appropriate communication resource. The aim is to create an agency that aims at providing training, resources, and support to the intended audience – this helps ensure the advocacy reaches a large number of practitioners. The established agency will perform various tasks, including conducting workshops, webinars, and distributing educational materials intended to raise awareness about the challenges that this group faces. More importantly, the agency will work closely with other healthcare institutions to implement protocols that will help address challenges to care, such as language barriers. Overall, reaching this audience is crucial for helping them better understand the challenges and needs of refugees and asylum seekers who have had a stroke.
Importance of Speaking to the Audience
It is important to speak to healthcare professionals working in primary care settings about the health challenges that refugees and asylum seekers who have suffered from a stroke face. This group encounters a myriad of challenges, including language barriers, limited access to healthcare, cultural differences, and trauma-related issues. Therefore, speaking to healthcare professionals about these challenges is one step towards ensuring the group receives high-quality and patient-centered care.
There is an urgent need to ensure this audience is aware of the impact of forced displacement on medical records and continuity of care, which has a negative impact on the quality of services the affected individuals receive. The ultimate aim of speaking to this audience is to ensure they are actively involved in helping reduce health inequities and enhance post-stroke support services for refugees and asylum seekers. This could be achieved by ensuring they are empowered through targeted training, workshops, and access to resources. Overall, speaking to this group is important because their active advocacy can make a significant difference in ensuring timely and high-quality healthcare for this population, benefiting individuals, families, and society at large.
Conclusion
In summation, it is crucial to emphasize the urgent need for healthcare professionals, particularly those in primary care settings, to care for patients who suffer from stroke among refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. These individuals encounter a range of difficulties—such as being forcibly displaced, having restricted access to healthcare, and dealing with language and cultural barriers—which greatly affect their ability to obtain proper and timely medical assistance. By addressing these challenges, healthcare professionals can play an important role when it comes to reducing health inequities and improving post-stroke support services for this vulnerable population. Through targeted training, workshops, and access to resources, we can empower these professionals to make a positive impact on the lives of stroke survivors among refugees and asylum seekers.
References
Asif, Z., & Kienzler, H. (2022). Structural barriers to refugee, asylum seeker and undocumented migrant healthcare access. Perceptions of Doctors of the World caseworkers in the UK. SSM-Mental Health, 2, 100-288.
Dineen-Griffin, S., Garcia-Cardenas, V., Williams, K. A., & Benrimoj, S. I. (2019). Helping patients help themselves: A systematic review of self-management support strategies in primary health care practice. PLOS ONE, 14(8), 220-316.
Farnham, D. D. T., & Goldstone, R. (2023). A narrative review of refugee & asylum seekers’ transitions into & experiences of working in the United Kingdom National Health Service. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1).
Mudyarabikwa, O., Regmi, K., Ouillon, S., & Simmonds, R. (2022). Refugee and immigrant community health champions: A qualitative study of perceived barriers to service access and utilization of the National Health Service (NHS) in the West Midlands, UK. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 24(1), 199-206.
Stewart, L. (2021). Healthcare for refugees: Where are the gaps and how do we help? Refugee Council.