Cooperative Work and Social Computing †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Cooperative Work and Social Computing. Answer: Introdcution: Post the Arab Spring that saw citizens of several Middle Eastern countries making peaceful protests against regimes, in Syria the quiet protests escalated into a civil war in 2011 and then began a mass exodus of Syrians that became a humanitarian crisis never seen before (Doganay Demiraslan, 2016). 6.6 million Syrians were internally displaced and about 4.6 million moved to safer havens in the neighbouring countries, Europe, Canada and other countries. The search for a place away from the perils of the war zone continues. 4.6 million Syrians have lost their lives and about 12 million of them had to leave their homes. Droughts from 2007-2010 had already weakened the Syrian economy and most of the population suffered from poverty. The war, disruption of education, health services, injuries, disability and loss of livelihood, perilous journeys away from home, in foreign lands where they are unwelcome, the Syrians are fraught with poverty and ill health (Al Jazeera, 2016). Social determ inants of health determine how people live, work, grow and age. The employment conditions, social connections and the political system of the country impact an individual's health (WHO, 2017). Most of the Syrian refugees have taken shelter in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Many reside in camps built by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The impact of such an impoverished existence where a choice has to be made between two dangerous options, on the lives of the young and the old cannot be healthy. But globalisation has it benefits, people from across the world are aware of the hapless plight of the Syrian refugees. Donations by countries, organisations such as, UNHCR,UNICEF, the World Bank, the WHO are striving hard to study how best to help the Syrian refugees in crisis (Bilukha, et al., 2014). Steps are afoot to help the host countries to balance the needs of their own citizens with those of the refugees. The uncertainties of the future, interrupted schooling of children and a struggle to find employment in the countries where they have taken refuge, the social determinant of health that increases the propensity for physical and mental illness among men, women and children, the elderly and the disabled is, mainly poverty. The children have witnessed their parents weighing the consequences of staying on in a war-torn country against life full of uncertainties in a foreign country. Several health challenges are encountered by the Syrian refugee population. In the refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, outbreaks of infectious diseases are common. Diseases that had become uncommon due to vaccination programs have affected the health of the refugees who live in camps where hygiene is compromised and many children have not been immunized. Measles, polio, tuberculosis and leishmaniasis are being reported regularly. Cholera outbreaks are also reported (Ozaras, et al., 2016). Costs of medicines in host countries are often high. The refugees already under the impact of poverty due to lack of regular employment and low wages are unable to afford expensive healthcare (El-Khatib, Scales, Vearey, Forsberg, 2013). In the Za'atri camp at Jordan, several relief providers from France, Saudi Arabia and Morocco try to provide healthcare, but the demand for their services is very high and only the more urgent cases are able to get treatment. The Jordanian government runs a free immunisation program for the children but lack of awareness and the fear of having make out-of-pocket payments makes parents reluctant to utilize the service. (El-Khatib, Scales, Vearey, Forsberg, 2013). Nutritional status of Syrian refugees is severely compromised. They are unable to obtain nutritious food since they depend on aid agencies. 44.8% children and 48.4% women were found to be suffering from anemia at the Za'atri camp (Bilukha, et al., 2014; (Hossain, Leidman, Kingori, Al Harun, Bilukha, 2016). The population of refugees is already reeling under debt. Syrians who live outside camps and pay rent also have to pay 25% of the expense towards healthcare in case of illness. The delivery of healthcare in host countries is inequitable and with shrinking availability of funds the plight of the poverty stricken Syrian refugees has grown. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases among the elderly refugee population is severe. The collapse of the Syrian healthcare delivery due to war meant that many of them were compelled to survive without medicines and diagnostic tests. Their chronic illness need urgent attention. In a study on the refugee population in Lebanon, refugees were questioned about diabetes, hypertension, chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease and arthritis. 82.9% of those with chronic non-communicable diseases sought healthcare mostly in primary health centres rather than in private clinics. 69.7% of the refugees made out-of-pocket payments of about $15 towards consultation fees. Prevention of adverse outcomes requires that better treatment for Syrian refugees must be made available due to their poor financial status (Doocy, Lyles, Hanquart, Team, Woodman, 2016). Poor living conditions prevail in refugee camps and the unsanitary conditions may lead to a higher incidence of respiratory infections, urogenital infections, skin diseases and gastrointestinal infections. Hepatitis A, varicella and malaria are frequently reported due to the poor housing in tents or containers at the camps that is often not weather proof (Doganay Demiraslan, 2016). Poverty has been in general associated with poor health outcomes. Low socioeconomic status exposes people to environmental stress that makes them more prone to disease. Patients with a poor financial status suffering from type 2 diabetes are more likely to suffer from complications. Low intake of nutritious foods and fruits and vegetables that offer protection from diseases, make the impoverished people prone to several diseases including cancer (Heidary, Rahimi, Gharebaghi, 2013). Cancer incidence and survival are linked to the socioeconomic status of the patient because access to expensive healthcare p revents them from taking expensive treatment. The Syrian refugee population is impoverished and has withstood considerable trauma due to war, forced displacement from their own country and the fight for survival continues in their new environment that is fraught with challenges. The risk of mental illnesses is high among Syrian refugees. Many of them have witnessed the war from close quarters. They escaped violence, bombings, dwindling healthcare services and lack of medicines and encountered risks while travelling to the neighbouring countries. High levels of fear and stress forced people to leave their homes because their houses, schools or offices could be bombed at any moment. Many moved after a family member died or was wounded (Handicap International, 2016). By the time they arrived to a neighbouring country as refugees they had lost their livelihoods and they had to live on international aid provisions. Post traumatic stress disorder,(Alpak, et al., 2015) anxiety and depression are common mong the refugees (Naja, Aoun, El Khoury, Abdallah, Haddad, 2016) It is suggested tht to overcome the trauma experienced during war, the refugees must try to increase resilience. Some people are more resilient while others may be vulnerable to various illnesses due to the traumatic experiences. But improving self-efficacy through building resilience can help refugees cope with mental stress better. They can take small steps towards leading a normal life and reduce the psychological impact of the stress due to their experiences (Almoshmosh, 2016). Self management of patients with mental illness can help them to engage better with the mental health professionals. There are however, ways to improve healthcare and make efforts to rescue the refugees from poverty. The host countries have difficulties in providing healthcare and employment to their own population and to the refugees. Several international agencies are working to increse aid and collect nd analyse data about refugee healthcare in order to identify unmet needs and to determine areas where the largest gaps between demand and delivery of services exist. The UNHCR has played a pivotal role in building camps, provision of clean drinking water and nutritious food. The World Bank has stopped aid to the Syrian government and has directed funds towards the refugee population. The UN provided an aid of $770 million to help Lebanon provide relief to the refugees (Cherri, Gonzlez, Delgado, 2016). Often, neuropsychiatric programs may not be a part of the health services delivered to refugees. Providing regular healthcare remains a priority in provision of healthcare during a refugee crisis. Prevention of a possible stroke can reduce morbidity and other diseases like brain tumor, epilepsy and schizophrenia can be treated through funds collected in a targetted manner since the treatments of these ailments require higher financial inputs (McKenzie, Spiegel, Khalifa, Mateen, 2015). Preventative steps can help in reducing morbidity in case of non-communicable diseases: diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension. The expenses incurred on secondary and tertiary treatments could increase costs. Increased focus on health promotion programs that prevent patients from developing non-communicable diseases can help to reduce disease burden and teaching patients to self manage can reduce healthcare costs low. Funding cannot keep pace with the requirement of provision of free or subs idized healthcare among the refugees, so costs need to be kept low (Doocy S. , Lyles, Akhu-Zaheya, Burton, Burnham, 2016). Both Lebanon and Jordan are middle income level countries and need low cost solutions for providing optimum healthcare toSyrian refugees. The huge humanitarian crisis that the Syrians are facing has people from around the world donate money so that they can be treated and helped to withstand the torture of civil war. Conclusion It is important to understand the plight of the citizens of the strife-torn country. They have been forced to leave their country due to the civil with no end in sight. The war has left them battered, suffering from injuries and several health related problems. The fact that they have lost their source of livelihood has made them dependent on the financial agencies. Globalisation has made it possible for their troubles to be understood by the world community. The pouring of aid is not enough as the healthcare needs of an impoverished people are large and growing. The impact of poverty during their stay in adopted countries in poor quality housing has led to widespred incidence of infectious diseases, mental illness due to stress, nutritional deficiencies, non-communicable diseases among the elderly, disability and wounds caused during the war are the several health issues that refugees suffer from. Lack of employment has caused them severe distress and lower wages due to discriminati on is another problem. But steps are being taken to improve funding and reduce morbidity among the Syrian refugees. References Almoshmosh, N. (2016). 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