Stakeholders’ Perceptions of the Impact of Healthcare and Housing Challenges on the Well-Being of Refugees in Selected States in Nigeria: Implications for Counselling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.68050/JAMS.2026.636Keywords:
Counselling, Healthcare Challenges, Housing Challenges, Refugees, Stakeholders, Well-beingAbstract
This study examined stakeholders’ perceptions of the impact of healthcare and housing challenges on the well-being of refugees in selected states in Nigeria, with implications for counselling. Two objectives guided the study, and two null hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population comprised 60,609 respondents, while a sample of 381 respondents, consisting of NCFRMI staff, refugees, security personnel and UNHCR staff, participated in the study. Data were collected using the Stakeholders’ Perception of Challenges Facing Refugees and Remediating Strategies (SPOCFRARS) questionnaire. The instrument was validated by experts and yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.79. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyse respondents’ demographic characteristics, while mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that healthcare challenges were perceived to have significant implications for refugees’ well-being, including access to medical facilities, medicines, healthcare personnel and psychosocial support. A significant difference was found among the perceptions of the four stakeholder groups, F(3, 377) = 6.214, p < .001. Housing challenges were also perceived to affect refugees’ well-being, particularly through inadequate shelter, overcrowding, poor sanitation, limited water supply and inadequate basic amenities. A significant difference was also found among the stakeholder groups, F(3, 377) = 3.876, p = .010. The study concludes that healthcare and housing conditions are important dimensions of refugee well-being and require coordinated interventions, including appropriate counselling and psychosocial support services.
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