Healing Transitions: A community based model for the provision of culturally relevant programs for Burundian refugees

The Healing Transitions project at the University of Tennessee is a multi-disciplinary community-based initiative that focuses on the arrival and successful integration of Burundian refugees resettled to area. In 2007, there was a distinct need to develop a safety net for refugees arriving in Knoxville. Applying Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles, the investigators interviewed key stakeholders regarding the status of refugee resources in the community. Noted in each interview was the remarkable level of “culture shock” for both the refugees and the community, particularly with the newly resettling Burundian populations. Burundians were also interviewed in focus groups over the course of a year. This incoming population had no English language proficiency and was illiterate in their native language. Most stressful to the community was the lack of the Burundians' westernized comprehension of the “system” causing high degrees of stress for both parties. The interviews by the school district revealed that the Burundian children initially had a remarkably difficult time adjusting to life in the U.S. The children had daily “melt downs”, “stripped off their clothing”, “cried most of the day”, and “wandered aimlessly down the halls”. The data extracted from these interviews will be presented in addition to the successes and challenges experienced in the development of culturally relevant interventions by a community based coalition to promote successful integration and improve overall health outcomes.