Oral

The growing flows of immigrant and refugee populations worldwide have brought up new challenges in terms of addressing their unmet physical and mental health needs. Although much has been written about the barriers that limit immigrants’ access to and use of health services in developed nations, little is known about the most adequate, culturally competent and efficient approaches to addressing their health needs. Immigrants and refugees’ diversity in terms of race, ethnicity and national origin, cultural background and personal trajectories call for more tailored research and intervention efforts that consider their cultural, social and health beliefs and practices. Papers in this session will address the interrelated obstacles (e.g., economic, cultural and logistic) that keep immigrants and refugees from effectively using mainstream health services. At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) identify three main barriers to the access and utilization of Western medical services; 2) propose three research designs aimed at overcoming these barriers; 3) formulate complementary approaches to the mainstream conceptualizations of health and disease.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing