Assessing the Challenges Facing Healthcare Workers in Providing Healthcare in Refugee Camps

Abstract

Introduction: Camps provide a haven for refugees seeking safety and shelter, but the continuation of conflicts and prolonged stays lead to the emergence of new challenges related to infrastructure, basic services, and healthcare, and others.

Objective: To assess the challenges facing healthcare workers in providing healthcare in refugee camps.

Materials and Methods: This research followed a descriptive design and was conducted in the Atmeh and Kafr Lusin camps in northern Syria from June 1, 2025, to July 1, 2025. The sample consisted of 100 doctors and nurses, selected using convenience sampling. A three-part questionnaire was used to collect data: demographics, information about work within the camps, and a scale assessing the challenges facing healthcare.

Results: The most significant administrative and organizational challenges are the lack of sufficient administrative training for healthcare staff, a shortage of human resources needed to provide care efficiently. The most significant technical and operational challenges are that financial constraints affect to provide modern medical technologies, and that climatic conditions affect in altering the performance of technical equipment.

Conclusion and Recommendations: The most significant psychological and social challenges in the camps are that camp conditions and life within them affect the psychological state of the health car staff, and that health car staff do not feel social stability within the camp work environment. The most important recommendations Conduct similar studies involving a larger number of healthcare staff in order to generalize the results. Conduct future studies to investigate the causes of the existing challenges in the camps and work on addressing them.