Review of the Evidence Landscape on the Risk Communication and Community Engagement Interventions Among the Rohingya Refugees to Enhance Healthcare Seeking Behaviours in Cox's Bazar

Abstract

This report is the first output in a body of work undertaken to identify operationally feasible suggestions to improve risk communication and community engagement efforts (RCCE) with displaced Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar. Specifically, these should seek to improve healthcare seeking behaviour and acceptance of essential health services in the camps where the Rohingya reside. It was developed by the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) at the request of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in Bangladesh. As a first step in this process, this review paper synthesises and assesses the quality of evidence landscape available in Cox’s Bazar and how the Rohingya seek and access healthcare services in Cox’s Bazar and presents the findings from key informant interviews on the topic. Findings are structured in five discussion sections: (1) evidence quality; (2) major themes and variations in the evidence; (3) learnings drawn and recommendations commonly made; (4) persistent bottlenecks; and (5) areas for further research. This synthesis will inform a roundtable discussion with key actors working for the Rohingya refugees to identify next steps for RCCE and research efforts in Cox’s Bazar to improve health outcomes among the Rohingya.

The Integration of Social Science for Community Engagement in the Humanitarian Fields of Conflicts and Disasters: A Scoping Review

“…The use of social science approaches and qualitative research was recognized as a tool to understand the patterns seen in the quantitative data findings [12]. Qualitative research methods also enabled participants to share their experiences, concerns, and queries, providing an additional layer of understanding, which can be used for designing tailored community engagement strategies and interventions [12,13]. Box 1 shows examples from the literature.…”

“…Overall, the reviewed literature emphasizes the importance of understanding the community's cultural, linguistic, and religious context in humanitarian emergencies of conflict and disasters and, as shown, we saw several social science techniques being used [13]. However, despite this widespread use, this same literature is rather silent on the broader relevance of social science knowledge and its potential for broader, more widespread critiques on societal structures and systems that come from anthropological or sociological insights into culture or political insights into power dynamics.…”

“…Song et al (2013) emphasized the need of conducting a cultural assessment to build a knowledge base about the country and find local partners that can help researchers learn about local communities and culture, even before executing a need assessment [14]. The latter is often utilized to map the available community resources as well as the mental health and psychosocial needs of the community [13,14]. Participatory community approaches: Several participatory community approaches were highlighted in the reviewed literature.…”

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph20196856/s1: Table S1: Overview of selected studies, peerreviewed, and grey literature [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]37,38].…”

The Inclusionary Potential and Spatial Boundaries of (Semi-)Public Space: Refugee Youth’s Everyday Experiences in the Urban Fabric of Amsterdam

“…In addition, women and girls must wear a face veil and cover their body parts properly. A woman's exposure to a man unrelated to her or her appearance in public is considered undignified (Yonally et al, 2021). Purdah is often associated with religious values (Mim, 2020), which prohibit Muslim women from being seen by non-related persons.…”