An Innovative Statewide Initiative for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management with Newly Arriving Refugees in California

We will discuss the preventive health project that the California Department of Public Health, Refugee Health Program has implemented to address the clash in health care systems between the country of origin of newly arriving refugees and the US with a focus on prevention and management of chronic health conditions. Rather than view refugees as non-compliant, the Refugee Health Program provides funding to eight county refugee health programs to fundamentally change the approach and overcome challenges and barriers experienced by refugees at risk for, or living with, chronic health conditions. The eight programs address infrastructure changes to improve the monitoring and follow-up of referrals for refugees identified with chronic diseases such as hypertension and obesity. We will discuss approaches to collaboration between local agencies and the state to guide culturally appropriate programming, recruitment and training of community health workers, delivery of culturally relevant primary prevention health education, and chronic disease management with different refugee groups. We will discuss the critical importance of supportive partners including refugee clinics, community leaders and CBOs, as well as the unique roles each of the partners provides in the diverse approaches of this multi-faceted program. The presenters will discuss the challenges and importance of translation and interpretation of tools for diverse and unique communities, both linguistically and socio-culturally. Key evaluation findings and recommendations from the first three years of the preventive health project will be shared, along with methods used for conveying this information to make modifications to the project approach and activities.