Abstract
Elderly refugees in Jordanian healthcare settings are a vulnerable
group. Most of them come from a collectivist culture where family
members are the main source of care. Many elderly refugees can
no longer work as they did, and are in need of professional
intervention from social workers who will take account of their
cultural values and beliefs. This exploratory study seeks to
understand the role that religion has in the lives of displaced
elderly refugees and the impact of those perspectives on how
they make sense of their circumstances. Using a qualitative design
the methodology drew upon focus group discussions, semistructured interviews and ethnographic participant observation in
the gathering and analysis of data. The study highlights the
important role that religious beliefs and values play both in
maintaining and enhancing elderly refugee’s sense of community,
security and mental well-being, and the fundamental importance
of the same in their interactions with professionals. A key finding
is that religious sensitivity and awareness are critical to good
social work practice with religious elderly refugees from the Arab
world. It is also suggested that the findings of this study can be
transferred to other populations and age groups.