An Urgent Human Health Dilemma Facing Refugees and Their Host Caregivers? - An Urgent Human Health Dilemma Facing Refugees and Their Host Caregivers? - Open Access Pub

The continuous waves of refugees from Africa and the Middle East to Europe present major inter？cultural challenges to European health professionals and to society at large. A recent workshop in Sicily brought together local physicians, nurses, psychologists and managers of governmental agencies, along with representatives from Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Tunisia, Jordan and the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) to develop training programs aimed at formulating dialogue between regional professionals and refugees. A major barrier refugees face is a lack of verbal and cultural communication, which hinders their smooth absorption into the new society. Cultural mediators who speak Arabic and Italian and understand the refugees' faith, tradition and beliefs are vital to successfully build bridges of trust between caregivers and refugees. Most asylum seekers experience anxiety, fear, and depression upon arrival in Europe. To achieve trust, all workshop participants agreed to develop a palliative care model that would best suit the unique circumstances now facing some Mediterranean countries and assist in overcoming the suffering of refugees during their initial stay in Europe. Such a model would include bio-psychosocial elements, essential for a culturally sensitive approach and based on core ethical principles. DOI 10.14302/issn.2576-9383.jhhr-18-2111 Refugees and migrants arriving in Europe seek a reasonable quality of life, after leaving their families, belongings and traditional existence.1 Due to the new environment, language and life styles, many refugees suffer emotional, psychological and spiritual distress.2 Hence, a high percentage of these newcomers face severe challenges throughout their acclimatization process in the host communities. These emotional disorders do not require hospitalization but can be treated effectively in the community. According to the most recent data processed and published by ISTAT, there were 5,029,000 foreigners residing in Italy as of 1 January 2017. They constitute 8.3% of the total number of Italian residents. From the same data, it is recorded that are 2,425,000 families registered with at least one foreign member. Three quarters of these families are composed exclusively of foreigners. In 2016 foreign citizens numbered 92,000 (2.2% less than the previous year). Of these, 61,000 had foreign partners and 31,000 had Italian partners. Newborn babies born in 2016, where both parents were foreigners, numbered one/seventh of all births of the year, and one in five children had a foreign mother. 72.7% of