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Changing vulnerabilities and COVID-19 adherence: Older refugees in Lebanon
This research focuses on tracking adherence to COVID-19 preventive/control measures among older Syrian refugees in Lebanon in response to underlying and emergent barriers, enablers, and vulnerabilities that operate at multiple levels.
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Principal Investigator: Dr. Sawsan Abdulrahim (American University of Beirut (AUB))
Co-PIs: Dr. Hala Ghattas and Dr. Stephen McCall
Purpose
Assess how barriers, enablers, and underlying vulnerabilities measured at individual, community, and structural levels are associated with adherence to COVID-19 preventive/control measures (hand-washing, social distancing, and seeking healthcare upon appearance of symptoms).
Examine how adherence to COVID-19 preventive/control measures vary over time in response to change in underlying and emergent vulnerabilities. [Emergent vulnerabilities may include heightened deprivation, surge in domestic violence, reduced access to non-COVID-19 healthcare services especially for chronic diseases, inadequate water and sanitation facilities, and isolation and poor mental health.]
Utilise rigorous, comprehensive, and real-time data to inform humanitarian programming in response to COVID-19 in the short- and medium-term and to enhance preparedness to respond to future crises.
Zeinab Ramadan
NRC Lebanon
Zeinab Ramadan is the Accountability to affected population Manager at NRC Lebanon
Hala Ghattas, PhD
American University of Beirut
Hala Ghattas is a Co-PI and an Associate Research Professor & Interim Director at the Center for Research on Population and Health, and Faculty of Health Sciences.
Stephen McCall, DPhil
American University of Beirut
Stephen McCall is a Co-PI and an Assistant Professor of Public Health Practice at the Center for Research on Population and Health, and Faculty of Health Sciences.
Sawsan Abdulrahim, PhD
American University of Beirut
Sawsan Abdulrahim is PI and an associate professor at the Department of Health promotion, Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences.
Stephanie Bassil
Beirut, NRC Lebanon
Stephanie Bassil is the
Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at NRC Lebanon
Expected Outcomes
The following research outputs will be produced:
A conceptual framework and survey tool utilised to gather data and test relationships between multi-level determinants and behavioural adherence. The framework and tool will be created through engagement with a community of stakeholders (municipalities, local organizations, and members of the refugee community).
Comprehensive, systematic, and real-time data on the changing needs and vulnerabilities of older Syrian refugees.
These will yield the following outcomes:
Efficient data analysis to inform Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) humanitarian response to COVID-19 in the short and medium-term. Descriptive findings will be presented in the form of infographics/social media bites and shared with the community of stakeholders throughout the life-course of the study.
Dissemination of knowledge gained among the humanitarian community to facilitate a coordinated response to COVID-19 and future epidemics.
Using the results from the first wave of data collection, the study found that misinformation about COVID-19 was prevalent in the community. The following videos were produced to tackle specific areas of misinformation and have been disseminated through the UNHCR communication trees and to all NRC beneficiaries in Lebanon.
Reacting to changing needs, the study partners received an extension to collect concrete data in January 2022 to assess who has actually taken the vaccine. This data will help understand whether perceptions about vaccines impacted on vaccine uptake.
2021Oct
Poster wins first place prize!
23 Sept 2021
NRC and AUB win first place for their poster at the prestigious Social Medicine and Population Health conference. Their poster on "COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in older Syrian refugees in Lebanon: findings from a longitudinal survey" beat out over 100 other posters - a great achievement!
Copyright 2018 Joshua Berson. Tarek* and Fatima* are supported under occupancy free of charge (OFC), NRC works with property owners in Lebanese communities to upgrade unfinished houses and apartments to a habitable condition in exchange for hosting Syrian families rent-free for a period of 12 months.
Copyright 2018 Joshua Berson. This is Hamad. He fled to Lebanon to save and protect his children. He is helping NRC as a Focal Point because he wants to help them identify their problems and refer them to NRC for help.
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