Iraqi Refugees by AARON SUNIL

Culturally responsive clinical practice framework (Domain 1 : Clinical Expert)

aaroansunil — 2025-08-29 08:20:50 UTC

Culturally responsive clinical practice is a framework which promotes equal access of health care services for all people, regardless of their culture, ethnicity, etc. It has seven domains, and each domain has various competency standards (Migrant & Refugee Women’s Health Partnership, 2019). Domain 1 is referred as Clinical Expert (Migrant & Refugee Women’s Health Partnership, 2019). For me, the most relevant competency standard of Domain 1 is 1.2 : "Clinicians recognise the impact of refugee-like experiences, including experiences of traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder, and take these experiences into account during the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care to modify their approach as appropriate and to provide trauma-informed care". (Migrant & Refugee Women’s Health Partnership, 2019). This competency standard will be essential to me in the workplace, as it helps me to understand and respect the various cultures and experiences of people from refugee backgrounds, and provide them with high quality person-centred care and trauma-informed care, which will help them to meet all their needs and preferences. Migrant & Refugee Women’s Health Partnership. (2019). Culturally Responsive Clinical Practice: Working with People from Migrant and Refugee Backgrounds. Migrant & Refugee Women’s Health Partnership.https://moodleprod.murdoch.edu.au/pluginfile.php/4578910/mod_resource/content/4/Culturally-responsive-clinical-practice-Working-with-people-from-migrant-and-refugee-backgrounds-Jan2019.pdf

Social inclusion and non-discrimination as WHO social determinants

aaroansunil — 2025-08-29 08:23:54 UTC

The World Health Organization describes social determinants as non-medical factors that affects the health of individuals from all backgrounds, especially migrants and refugees (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024). Social Inclusion means actively participating in all the community activities, helping others, interacting with others, etc (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024). Social inclusion has a lot of impact on the health of a Iraqi refugee like lower morbidity and higher life expectancy. Having good social connections will help them to maintain their physical and mental health, it will help them to get emotional and material support at hard times(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024). Social exclusion is the lack of skills and resources, that hinders a person from actively participating in the society. Social exclusion on the basis of discrimination and stigmatisation can cause psychological harm and even long-term stress and anxiety to a person (Filia et al., 2025). This may lead to social isolation as they may already be going through separation of their family, acculturative stress and other health issues. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Social determinants of health. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/social-determinants-of-health

Filia, K., Teo, S. M., Brennan, N., Freeburn, T., Baker, D., Browne, V., Watson, A., Menssink, J., Prasad, A., Killackey, E., McGorry, P. D., Cotton, S. M., Gao, C. X. (2025). Interrelationships between social exclusion, mental health and wellbeing in adolescents: insights from a national Youth Survey. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735115/#:~:text=A%20strong%20association%20was%20seen,negative%20outlook%20on%20the%20future

Nguyen, T. P., Asaad, M. A., Sena, M., Slewa-Younan, S. (2024). Loneliness and social isolation amongst refugees resettled in high-income countries: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117340

Common health issues in Iraqi refugees

aaroansunil — 2025-08-29 08:35:53 UTC

One of the most common health issues seen in Iraqi refugees, according to the 'Australian refugee health practice guide' is Schistosomiasis. This chronic parasitic infection is caused by flukes of the genus Schistosomiasis (Australian Refugee Health Practice Guide,2025). This infection is caused by contact with larvae infected water, which is released by a snail host. Over 200 million people is diagnosed with Schistosomiasis, and over 200,000 people die every year (Australian Refugee Health Practice Guide,2025). The higher prevalence of Schistosomiasis in Iraq, is due to the lack of availability of clean water and poor sanitation. Kids and adolescents are more vulnerable to Schistosomiasis (McGarvey, 2000). The various ways in which Schistosomiasis is screened in laboratory centres in Australia are serology, urine and stool test (Australian Refugee Health Practice Guide,2025). Symptoms of chronic infection may include abdominal pain, bloody diarrhoea, or rarely, genital sores. The treatment for Schistosomiasis is praziquantel (40mg/kg) for adults. For kids, the doses vary, and needs to be consulted by a specialist. Australian Refugee Health Practice Guide. (2025). Australian Refugee Health Practice Guide. https://refugeehealthguide.org.au/schistosomiasis/

McGarvey, S. T. (2000). Schistosomiasis: Impact on childhood and adolescent growth, malnutrition, and morbidity. Seminars in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1053/spid.2000.9642

Traditional medicines

aaroansunil — 2025-08-29 08:39:21 UTC

Iraq has a rich historical heritage of traditional medicines. Iraqi people have lots of knowledge about traditional medicines, especially the elderly people. One of such traditional medicine they use is the 'Zamzam water' which is brought from Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, because it is believed that it has medicinal and curing power when mixed with herbal medicines to treat any ailment (Ahmed, 2025). Zamzam water is mentioned as the purest water on earth in the Hadith by Prophet Muhammad (Ahmed, 2025). Another traditional medicine which is commonly used in the Kurdistan is the Teucrium plants, which is used for treating ailments like stomachache, jaundice and other abdominal problems (Abdullah et al., 2022). Some of the other commonly used traditional medicines are seeds of P.anisum which helps to treat anxiety, cough, asthma, etc (Ahmed, 2025). The bark of another medicinal tree called A.cassia is used as a medicine for diabetes, anaemia, renal failure, common cold cough etc. Abdullah, F. O., Hussain, F. H. S., Sardar, A. S., Gilardoni, G., Thu, Z. M., & Vidari, G. (2022). Bio-Active Compounds from Teucrium Plants Used in the Traditional Medicine of Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 27(10), 3116. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27103116

Ahmed, H. M. (2025). Medicinal plants used in traditional medicine among populations in Hawler (Erbil) Province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Journal of Herbs, Spices & Medicinal Plants, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10496475.2025.2542307

Culinary Vlogs By Z. (2024, March 16). WHY WHERE WHAT is Zam Zam Water. [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ohd3OWzcM&t=6s