Importance of Interprofessional Healthcare for Vulnerable Refugee Populations
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Importance of Interprofessional Healthcare for Vulnerable Refugee Populations Mary A. Nies1 • Wei Yean Alyssa Lim1 • Kelly Fanning1,2 • Susan Tavanier1,2
Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract The refugee population in the United States is steadily increasing. These populations face a plethora of diseases and chronic health problems (i.e. obesity, hypertension and depression) as they resettle into their new environment. Due to the lack of understanding, minority population refugee health is scarce and minimal at best. Refugees and healthcare professionals face similar barriers when it comes to seeking treatment and treatment itself. For example, refugees might not be able to communicate efficiently and understand the referral process while healthcare professionals do not understand the culture and language of their patients. However, more data is needed to determine if interprofessional teams consisting of differing healthcare professionals such as nurses, pharmacists, and dieticians that conduct home visits might be able to bridge the health care gap between individualized treatment and refugee needs. Keywords Refugee Chronic disease Healthcare Interprofessional teams A refugee is a person who is unable and/or unwilling to voyage back to his or her home country. This could be due to a concern related to persecution with race, membership of a particular social group, political opinion, religion or national origin as a foundation for discrimination according to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) [1]. In 2014, & Mary A. Nies [email protected] 1
Division of Health Sciences, Idaho State University, 921 S. 8th Avenue, Pocatello, ID 83209, USA
2
School of Nursing, 1311 E. Central Drive, Meridian, ID 83642, USA
70,000 refugees were admitted to the United States. This 70,000 was also the numerical ceiling for refugee admissions determined by the President of the US in consultation with Congress [1]. In 2013, the nation’s foreign-born population accounted for 13 % of the total US population. Additionally, the foreign born population increased (about 30 %) more rapidly than the native-born population (about 8 %) between 2001 and 2011 [2]. As the United States becomes increasingly more diverse, these populations have a greater influence on the nation’s health and thus create an urgent understanding of healthcare access and needs. According to Hill et al. [3], it has been suggested that one in six refugees has a physical health problem that can severely affect their quality of life, not only that, but two-thirds experience anxiety and depression as well. The majority of research on refugee access to healthcare has made light of the barriers refugees face when seeking healthcare. These include language barriers, specialty care accessibility, unfamiliarity with referral procedures, limited information regarding specific services, confusion about the roles of differing healthcare professionals and overall difficulties with navigating the healthcare system. Refugees’ barrie
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