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Primary Prevention for Resettled Refugees from Burma: Where to Begin?

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Abstract

Developing effective primary prevention initiatives may help recently arrived refugees retain some of their own healthy cultural habits and reduce the tendency to adopt detrimental ones. This research explores recent arrivals’ knowledge regarding eating behaviors, physical activity and sleep habits. Working collaboratively with community members, a healthy living curriculum was adapted and pilot tested in focus groups. A community-engaged approach to revising and implementing a health promotion tool was effective in beginning dialogue about primary prevention among a group of recently arrived refugees from Burma. Seven themes were identified as particularly relevant: food choices, living environment, health information, financial stress, mobility/transportation, social interaction and recreation, and hopes and dreams. Refugees desire more specific information about nutrition and exercise, and they find community health workers an effective medium for delivering this information. The outcomes of this study may inform future targeted interventions for health promotion with refugees from Burma.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported with pilot grant funding from the Worcester County Prevention Research Center. The Worcester County Prevention Research Center is a member of the Prevention Research Centers Program, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cooperative agreement number 1-U48-DP-000062.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA, 01655, USA

    Heather-Lyn Haley & Suzanne Cashman

  2. Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, 19 Tacoma St, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA

    Meredith Walsh

  3. Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Nang H. Tin Maung

  4. Common Pathways, CHNA 8, Worcester Healthy Communities Coalition, 54 Elm Street, First Floor, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA

    Clara P. Savage

Authors
  1. Heather-Lyn Haley
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  2. Meredith Walsh
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  3. Nang H. Tin Maung
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  4. Clara P. Savage
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  5. Suzanne Cashman
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Correspondence to Heather-Lyn Haley.

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Haley, HL., Walsh, M., Tin Maung, N.H. et al. Primary Prevention for Resettled Refugees from Burma: Where to Begin?. J Community Health 39, 1–10 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-013-9732-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-013-9732-7

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