Women refugees arrive in the United States often having experienced extreme levels of poverty, deprivation, and violence, including gender-based violence, which can severely affect their physical and psychological health and well-being. A women's group was initiated to improve the health and well-being of refugee women in Durham, North Carolina, through a collaboratively designed, culturally appropriate health literacy intervention for women based on mutually identified needs; to empower them to seek preventive health services and screening through knowledge and skills about health needs and access to care; and to create an environment for the development of a supportive social/peer network for the prevention of social isolation and mental health issues related to the refugee experience.
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3.
HalcónL. L., RobertsonC. L., MonsenK. A., & ClaypatchC. C. (2007). A theoretical framework for using health realization to reduce stress and improve coping in refugee communities. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 25(3), 186–194. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0898010107303275.
4.
Hashimoto-GovindasamyL. S., & RoseV. (2011). An ethnographic process evaluation of a community support program with Sudanese refugee women in western Sydney. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 22(2), 107–112.
5.
LainofC. A., & ElseaS. J. (2004). From Sudan to Omaha: How one community is helping African refugees find a new home. The American Journal of Nursing, 104(7), 58–61.
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MerzelC., & D'AfflittiJ. (2003). Reconsidering community-based health promotion: Promise, performance, and potential. American Journal of Public Health, 93(4), 557–574.
9.
MurrayK. E., MohamedA. S., & NdunduyengeG. (2013). Health and prevention among East African women in the U.S. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 24(1), 233–246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2013.0029.
10.
PavlishC. L., NoorS., & BrandtJ. (2010). Somali immigrant women and the American health care system: Discordant beliefs, divergent expectations, and silent worries. Social Science & Medicine, 71(2), 353–361. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.010.
11.
Percac-LimaS., AshburnerJ. M., BondB., OoS. A., & AtlasS. J. (2013). Decreasing disparities in breast cancer screening in refugee women using culturally tailored patient navigation. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 28(11), 1463–1468. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11606-013-2491-4.
12.
RobertsonC. L., HalcónL., SavikK., JohnsonD., SpringM., ButcherJ., … JaransonJ. (2006). Somali and Oromo refugee women: Trauma and associated factors. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 56(6), 577–587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.04057.x.
13.
SundquistJ., HagströmerM., JohanssonS.-E., & SundquistK. (2010). Effect of a primary health-care-based controlled trial for cardiorespiratory fitness in refugee women. BMC Family Practice, 11, 55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2296-11-55.
14.
SwinkelsH., PottieK., TugwellP., RashidM., & NarasiahL. (2011). Development of guidelines for recently arrived immigrants and refugees to Canada: Delphi consensus on selecting preventable and treatable conditions. CMAJ, 183(12), E928–E932. http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.090290.
WielandM. L., WeisJ. A., PalmerT., GoodsonM., LothS., OmerF., … SiaI. G. (2012). Physical activity and nutrition among immigrant and refugee women: A community-based participatory research approach. Women's Health Issues, 22(2), e225–232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2011.10.002.
