Multi-purpose Cash Transfers and Health Among Vulnerable Syrian Refugees in Jordan
Study Objectives and Overview
Objective: To examine how multi-purpose cash (MPC) for non-camp Syrian refugees affect:
- Health expenditures (quantity, debt)
- Health-seeking behavior and health service utilization (frequency of care seeking, private vs. public)
- Parallel study conducted in Lebanon with same objectives and methodology
- Funded by Research for Health in Humanitarian Crisis (R2HC) for 2018-2020
Rationale
- Cash transfers are used on a relatively widespread basis in the Syrian refugee response in Jordan
- There have been many claims to cash transfers, particularly that MPCs are more efficient and effective than in-kind assistance, improve local economies, and provide more choice and dignity for affected persons
- The effect of MPCs on health remains to be sufficiently and rigorously studied in humanitarian settings
- No single well-designed comparative study that assesses the effectiveness of cash transfers on health service utilization, control of disease, or health outcomes in humanitarian settings