Conference looks at health-care concerns of refugees, including PTSD

A Harvard University doctor who advises on refugee issues says doctors need to keep an eye out for post-traumatic stressdisorder, or PTSD.

Dr. Peter Polatin says that information regarding mental health issues affecting refugees is just as vital as the physical health aspects.

"Somebody with PTSD does not typically volunteer that they have it,"saidPolatin, a faculty member of the Harvard program in refugee trauma based in Boston.

He added that PTSD is "typically characterized by a fear of death or witnessing [something] horrific, in one form or another."

His lecture on trauma waspart of Navigating the Unique Healthcare Needs of Refugees, a one-day conference hosted by the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine.

The conference gave primary health care providers information on how to deal with survivors of torture and infectious diseases like hepatitis B and tuberculosis.

Dr. Andries Muller, assistant dean of continuing medicaleducation at the University of Saskatchewan, said the clinic he works at has taken on some refugee families as clients. He's already seen some instances of these infectious diseases.

"Most physicians would expect there would be infectious diseases,but the specific diseases that we deal with are not things we commonly deal with on a daily basis with regular Canadian patients," Muller said.

The U of S says the goal of the conference is to inform health professionals about Canada's clinical guidelines for refugees.

Muller said that another goal one that revealed itself over the course of the conference was the need to establish a network of frontline health workers in Saskatchewan that can assist one another in screening for infectious disease and PTSD.

"We're fortunate that we have some very good national and international speakers here today, and people who have had experience dealing with different refugees from different countries, and we can access their knowledge."

Nearly 1,100 refugees from Syria have come to Saskatchewan since December 2015.