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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Kerrin DePeter¹, Jonathan Hall¹, Arash Saemi¹, Brett Schneider¹, Erika Schumacher¹, Sarah Stilwill¹, Alyssa Wittenberg¹, Hendrika Maltby, PhD, RN², and Jan Carney, MD, MPH³. (1) College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Main St, Burlington, VT 05405, 802-656-8305, Kerrin.Depeter@uvm.edu, (2) Nursing, University of Vermont, Main St, Burlington, VT 05405, (3) Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Vermont, 371 Pearl Street, Burlington, VT 05401

The Somali Bantu resettlement in Chittenden County, Vermont began with the arrival of the first 6 Somali Bantu on July 24th, 2003; to date 282 refugees settled in the area. The purpose of our project was to assess the current understanding of Somali Bantu culture by health care providers in the community and how this understanding relates to caring for this group of people. We developed a survey which was distributed to health care providers working with this population. There was a 34% return rate of surveys, and the majority of the respondents were physicians or registered nurses. Health care providers experienced a number of challenges when working with the Somali Bantu population such as accessibility of interpreters, patients arriving on time, understanding of routine medical procedures, and teaching initiatives. Based on the results of the survey, we held a focus group with members of the Somali Bantu population to discuss issues raised in the survey responses and information they may want health care providers to know. Overall the Somali Bantu have had very positive health care experiences in the U.S., with all encounters meeting expectations. We developed a pamphlet with information on the Somali Bantu culture and recommendations for working with this population. Our hope is that these pamphlets will foster increased communication and understanding between the Somali Bantu and the health care providers.

Learning Objectives: