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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Sharon Morrison, PhD, MSPH, Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 437HHP Bldg, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, 336-334-3243, sdmorri2@uncg.edu, Lauren A. Haldeman, PhD, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 308 Stone Bldg., Greensboro, NC 27402, S. Sudha, PhD, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 228 Stone Building, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, Kenneth Gruber, PhD, School of Human Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 185 Stone Bldg, Greensboro, NC 27402, and Raleigh Bailey, PhD, Center for New North Carolinians, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 413 S Edgeworh Street, Greensboro, NC 27401.

The steady influx of foreign-born nationals to North Carolina communities has been creating a demand for community resources that facilitate cultural adaptation to US social systems and access to much needed health care services. An interdisciplinary team of faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro documented the scope of community “cultural adaptation resources (CARS)” available for assisting newly arrived and recent immigrant and refugee groups in Guilford County, central North Carolina. Using a two-stage “eco-mapping” approach, we identified and studied providers with services or programs that were targeted to immigrant characteristics and needs. We interviewed and reviewed documents from providers representing public or private agencies and programs involved with provision of nutrition assistance, primary health care and clinical disease management, and mental health treatment and counseling services. These represent key health disparity areas among ethnic minority groups. We identified 65 providers who serve immigrants and refugees either through direct provision of specialty services or through ancillary assistance such as information dissemination, service referrals, case management, financial assistance, interpretation and transportation, childcare and faith-based support. We also identified informal ethnic service providers such as ethnic grocery stores, religious elders and traditional healers who were providing culturally-derived assistance to immigrant groups. Our findings provided a snapshot of how the service provider community is responding to the need for linguistically and culturally sensitive health related care, and highlighted the need to expand the network of human services for ethnically diverse members of the community.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to
• Describe immigrant and refugee populations in central North Carolina
• Describe existing cultural adaptation resource networks for culturally sensitive health care to immigrants and refugees

Keywords: Health Promotion, Immigrants

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered