302492
Barriers and Access to Services for Prevention of Diabetes and Cardiovascular risks among Refugees from Nepal to Massachusetts, US
BACKGROUND: Since 2011, Boston-based International Health Organization (IHO) has been helping a seriously disenfranchised recently arrived refugee population in Massachusetts, USA which had been twice displaced in their native countries of Nepal and then Bhutan by providing them free health screening and health education. In the process we have identified the enablers and barrriers in their access to healthcare. METHODOLOGY: In 2011, IHO started a longitudinal, prospective, multi-year free health screening program for recently arrived refugees from Bhutan to Massachusetts. The screenings are being conducted through the community leaders amongst the refugee community with help from volunteers from IHO. RESULTS: It has been a very positive finding that majority of refugees seem to have been enrolled in the government sponsored health insurance programs and reasonably well connected with the healthcare system. However, it has been disappointing to learn that in spite of having free health insurance, several limitations still exist in accessing the same. Furthermore, the pattern of accessing the healthcare services seem to be driven more for curative illnesses and not for preventive health services. Amongst ten or more barriers we have identified, the most prominent barrier appears to be linguistic and cultural. This presentation will discuss these challenges and IHO's strategies to overcome them. CONCLUSION: This project examines the barriers to accessing care in a refugee population inspite of having been successfully enrolled in a public-sponsored health insurance program. This is the first such initiative to specifically examine the factors at play in this particular refugee population and how to address them.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programsBasic medical science applied in public health
Chronic disease management and prevention
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning
Provision of health care to the public
Learning Objectives:
Discuss the need of a severely traumatized refugee population for screening for preventable diseases;
Monitor the impact of change in the life-styles after the arrival of a refugge population in US;
Analyzing the barriers and access to available healthcare services;
Compare the results of this study presented at previous year's APHA annual confference.
Describe the challenges encountered in accessing preventive and curative health services;
Identify and share lessons learnt in helping other similar refugee populations.
Keyword(s): Refugees, Chronic Disease Prevention
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the project coordinator for this project since 2013 and an intern on the same project since 2011 at IHO. I presented on this project at APHA last year.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.