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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Catherine H. Sullivan, RN, MSN, CPNP, School of Nursing, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Drive, School of Nursing, Anchorage, AK 99508, 907-786-4576, afchs1@uaa.alaska.edu

Community partnerships promoting health access for Hmong refugees

Differences in refugees' cultural beliefs about health and disease as well as communication barriers and low health literacy may lead to perplexing communications with the Western health care system. In an effort to reach this group and determine health concerns, groups of senior community health nursing students from the University of Alaska Anchorage developed a partnership with Catholic Social Services Refugee Assistance Program and the Anchorage Literacy Project to provide health promotion/prevention services to recently immigrated Hmong refugees. The purposes of these projects were to identify health needs of Hmong immigrants and to design culturally appropriate health modules to address health knowledge differences. Students reviewed the literature, interviewed population representatives (using interpreters), and key agency informants to identify these needs. Data identified priority areas for which students planned and implemented primary prevention curricula that can be adapted by the agencies for use with future immigrant populations. While designing the materials, students considered cultural beliefs regarding healing and disease as well as low health care literacy of the population. Students also collaborated with other community agencies and businesses to increase access to health resources for this vulnerable population. Evaluations indicated participants understood and retained health information taught to them. Recommendations included future educational presentations with topics from all six dimensions of health. Partnerships with local literacy projects and immigrant/refugee programs may serve as a model that can be used with other vulnerable populations exhibiting health disparities.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to

• Identify literacy projects and immigrant/refugee programs in their locales as potential community partners to promote health access for immigrants/refugees.
• List five health promotion topics student nurses could present to an immigrant/refugee aggregate with low health care literacy.
• Describe methods used to implement and to evaluate health promotion teaching to an immigrant/refugee aggregate with low health care literacy.

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered