Skip to main content

Reducing Health Disparities Experienced by Refugees Resettled in Urban Areas: A Community-Based Transdisciplinary Intervention Model

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Converging Disciplines

Abstract

There is a growing recognition that social inequities in education, housing, employment, health care, safety, resources, money, and power contribute significantly to increasing health disparities globally, within countries, and even within specific urban environments. Thus, to promote health and well-being for all people, the World Health Organization recommends improving daily living conditions, measuring and understanding problems of health inequity, assessing the impact of action to address these problems, and ensuring equitable distribution of money, power, and resources (CSDH, 2008). Among the diverse populations that bear the burden of social inequities and health disparities are the increasing numbers of refugees and immigrants settling in urban areas.

“Social justice is a matter of life and death. It affects the way people live, their consequent chance of illness, and their risk of premature death.”

– WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, 2008

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Hmong people are an ethnic group in China and Southeast Asia.

References

  • Abueg, F. R., & Chun, K. M. (1996). Traumatization stress among Asians and Asian Americans. In A. J. Marsella, M. J. Friedman, E. T. Gerrity, & R. M. Scurfield (Eds.), Ethnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder (pp. 285–299). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Addams, J. (1964). Democracy and social ethics. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birman, D., & Tran, N. (2008). Psychological distress and adjustment of Vietnamese refugees in the United States: Association with pre- and post-migration factors. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78, 109–120.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) (2008). Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health (Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, P. M. (1992). From Freire to feminism: The North American experience with critical pedagogy. Adult Education Quarterly, 42(3), 180–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, P. M. (1998). The social dimension of transformative learning. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 7, 15–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, W. S., Redner, R., Blakely, C. H., Mitchell, C. M., & Emshoff, J. G. (1987). Diversion of juvenile offenders: An experimental comparison. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 68–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dona, G., & Berry, J. W. (1999). Refugee acculturation and reacculturation. In A. Ager (Ed.), Refugees: Perspectives on the experience of forced migration (pp. 211–222). New York, NY: Pinter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire, P. (1998). The adult literacy process as cultural action for freedom. Harvard Educational Review, 68(4), 476–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuertes, A. B. (2004). In their own words: Contextualizing the discourse of (war) trauma and healing. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 21, 491–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaventa, J. (1995). Citizen knowledge, citizen competence and democracy building. The Good Society (Journal of the Committee on the Political Economy of the Good Society), 5(3), 28–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodkind, J. R. (2005). Effectiveness of a community-based advocacy and learning program for Hmong refugees. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36(3/4), 387–408.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodkind J. R. (2006). Promoting Hmong refugees’ well-being through mutual learning: Valuing knowledge, culture, and experience. American Journal of Community Psychology, 37(1/2), 77–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodkind, J. R., & Foster-Fishman, P. G. (2002). Integrating diversity and fostering interdependence: Ecological lessons learned about refugee participation in multiethnic communities. Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 389–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodkind, J. R., Hang, P., & Yang, M. (2004). Hmong refugees in the United States: A community-based advocacy and learning intervention. In K. E. Miller & L. M. Rasco (Eds.), The mental health of refugees: Ecological approaches to healing and adaptation (pp. 295–334). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, J. (1999). The campaign for the Unpaid Wages Prohibition Act – Latino immigrants change New York wage law: The impact of non-voters on politics and the impact of political participation on non-voters. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC. http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/imp_wp4gordon.pdf

  • Gorst-Unsworth, C., & Goldenberg, E. (1998). Psychological sequelae of torture and organized violence suffered by refugees from Iraq: Trauma-related factors compared with social factors in exile. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172, 90–94.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hirayama, K. K., Hirayama, H., & Cetingok, M. (1993). Mental health promotion for South East Asian refugees in the USA. International Social Work, 36(2), 119–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, J. H. (1996). Culture, emotion, and PTSD. In A. J. Marsella, M. J. Friedman, E. T. Gerrity, R. M. Scurfield (Eds.), Ethnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder (pp. 165–183). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kirmayer, L. J. (1996). Confusions of the senses: Implications of ethnocultural variations in somatoform and dissociative disorders. In A. J. Marsella, M. J. Friedman, E. T. Gerrity, & R. M. Scurfield (Eds.), Ethnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder (pp. 165–183). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavik, N. J., Hauff, E., Skrondal, A., & Solberg, O. (1996). Mental disorder among refugees and the impact of persecution and exile: Some findings from an out-patient population. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 726–732.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marsella, A. J., & Pedersen, P. (2004). Internationalizing the counseling psychology curriculum: Toward new values, competencies, and directions. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 17, 413–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLoyd, V. (1990). The impact of economic hardship on Black families and children: Psychological distress, parenting, and socioemotional development. Child Development, 61, 311–346.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, K. E. (1999). Rethinking a familiar model: Psychotherapy and the mental health of refugees. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 29, 283–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholl, C., & Thompson, A. (2004). The psychological treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in adult refugees: A review of the current state of psychological therapies. Journal of Mental Health, 13, 351–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paltiel, F. (1987). Is being poor a mental health hazard? Women and Health, 12, 189–211.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, R. J., Gutierrez, L. M., & Cox, E. O. (1998). A model for empowerment practice. In L. M. Gutierrez, R. J. Parsons, & E. O. Cox(Eds.), Empowerment in social work practice: A sourcebook. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut, R. G. (1989). Portraits, patterns, and predictors of the refugee adaptation process: Results and reflections from the IHARP Panel Study. In D. W. Haines (Ed.), Refugees as immigrants: Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese in America (pp. 138–190). Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut, R. G,. (1991a). Migration, adaptation, and mental health: The experience of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States. In H. Adelman (Ed.), Refugee policy: Canada and the United States (pp. 381–424). Toronto, ON: York Lanes Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut, R. G. (1991b). The agony of exile: A study of the migration and adaptation of Indochinese refugee adults and children. In F. L. Ahearn, Jr. & J. L. Athey (Eds.), Refugee children: Theory, research, and services (pp. 53–91). Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silove, D., Sinnerbrink, I., Field, A., Manicavasagar, V., & Steel, Z. (1997). Anxiety, depression and PTSD in asylum-seekers: Associations with pre-migration trauma and post-migration stressors.British Journal of Psychiatry, 170, 351–357.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sinnerbrink, I., Silove, D., Field, A., Steel, Z., & Manicavasagar, V. (1997). Compounding of pre-immigration trauma and post-migration stress in asylum seekers. Journal of Psychology, 131, 463–470.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Speer, P. W., & Hughey, J. (1995). Community organizing: An ecological route to empowerment and power. American Journal of Community Psychology, 23, 729–748.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, C. M., & Bybee, D. I. (1999). Reducing violence using community-based advocacy for women with abusive partners. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 43–53.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Summerfield, D. (1999). A critique of seven assumptions behind psychological trauma programmes in war-affected areas. Social Science and Medicine, 48, 1449–1462.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1996). Voluntary repatriation: International protection. Retrieved December 3, 2008, from http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/3bfe68d32.pdf

  • US Committee on Refugee and Immigrants (2008). World Refugee Survey 2008. Retrieved from http://www.refugees.org/article.aspx?id=2114&subm=179&area=About%20Refugees

  • US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. (2009). World Refugee Survey 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from http://www.refugees.org/article.aspx?id=2324&subm=179&area=About%20Refugees&

  • Vontress, C. E. (2001). Cross-cultural counselling in the 21st century. International Journal of the Advancement of Counselling, 23, 83–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westermeyer, J., Neider, J., & Callies, A. (1989). Psychosocial adjustment of Hmong refugees during their first decade in the United States. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 177, 132–139.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, C. L., & Westermeyer, J. (1986). Refugee mental health in resettlement countries. The series in clinical and community psychology. Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, M. A. (1995). Psychological empowerment: Issues and illustrations. American Journal of Community Psychology, 23, 581–599.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica R. Goodkind .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Goodkind, J.R., Githinji, A., Isakson, B. (2011). Reducing Health Disparities Experienced by Refugees Resettled in Urban Areas: A Community-Based Transdisciplinary Intervention Model. In: Kirst, M., Schaefer-McDaniel, N., Hwang, S., O'Campo, P. (eds) Converging Disciplines. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6330-7_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6330-7_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-6329-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-6330-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics