Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Serena Chaudhry, MPH, MSW, Project Coordinator, 107 Havemeyer Street #7, Brooklyn, NY 11211, 917.969.3418, serenaSMC@yahoo.com

The Coming Home Project is an arts oriented psychosocial pilot intervention aimed at improving the psychosocial well being of Liberian elders living in Staten Island, New York by using photography and film to connect them with family and friends at home.

While exact numbers for this community are difficult to come by, amongst local service providers, the working estimate of Liberians on Staten Island is approximately 8,000 with 2,200 refugees and asylees resettled since 1996.

Many of the elderly in the community live alone in subsidized housing where access to social services, medical care and food is challenging. Though their lives are full of courage, many live in the U.S. depressed, isolated and ashamed. Given the demonstrated complexities and needs of older Liberians the Project Coordinator developed the Coming Home Project.

First, the Project Coordinator recruited a group of ten Liberian elders and asked them to create messages for friends and family in Liberia. Next, the Project Coordinator delivered the messages to Liberia, filmed responses and returned them to the Staten Island community. Finally, the Diaspora community and Project Coordinator worked together to create a multimedia exhibit which allowed older Liberians to share their stories and their challenges with the general public.

This presentation will trace the pilot project from inception to implementation over the course of eight short months and explore whether this intervention enhanced the psychosocial wellbeing of older Liberians on Staten Island and increased awareness, amongst service providers, about their special needs.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key issues impacting older refugees in the U.S.
• Discuss approaches to bridging post conflict communities in the Diaspora with their country of origin
• Articulate the benefits and challenges of using the arts as part of a psychosocial intervention

Keywords: Refugees,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation