Primary Investigator
Yanis Ben Amor
Assistant Professor of Global Health and Microbiological Sciences (in Pediatrics and in the Earth Institute) at the Columbia University Medical Center; Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Development in the Earth Institute
Project Description
The UNHCR has called the Syria emergency “the biggest humanitarian crisis of our time”. More than 90% of people fleeing Syria have sought asylum in three countries; Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. The aim of our proposed PGIF project is to create an international research network (a multidisciplinary consortium) on the use of digital health technologies in forced migration settings. The project will kick-off with a regional meeting in Istanbul to bring together researchers from Columbia University and top universities in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Researchers will share their experiences to collaboratively work on the use of digital technologies to improve young people’s health literacy and health care access in forced migration settings. In parallel to the network initiative, the project team`s experience regarding community based participatory action research (CBPAR) and digital health interventions with youth in Turkey and Lebanon will be adapted to the Jordanian context. This work will build on previously-funded (PGIF 2019-2020) research from the investigative team. To achieve this aim, a stakeholders meeting will be held in Amman to discuss digital health solutions for promoting youth health in Jordan. Following the same research methodology in Turkey and Lebanon, the project team will conduct a photovoice study with refugee and local youth, and in-depth interviews with refugee health workers and policy makers in Jordan to assess needs for digital health tools. The consortium will compare findings from the three host countries to prepare reports, conference papers and scientific articles to disseminate the findings and recommendations at the international level. The project will involve young researchers and refugee/local youth groups into research and networking activities and organize research capacity building trainings in project countries to advance knowledge and skills of future migration researchers from the fields of medicine, public health, nursing and social work.