Our approach
Local health departments and community-based orgranizations can be most effective when they work together in patrtnership on public health solutions.
The purpose of the NRC-RIM is to support public health departments and community-based organizations in their efforts to reach refugee, immigrant and migrant communities who are disproportionately affected by health inequities. We encourage health departments to put the following principles into action; NRC-RIM in collaboration with our partners will develop practical resources to support health departments implement these principles
- Actively work to understand the unique circumstances of your local RIM communities
- Acknowledge and address structural racism and acknowledge both conscious and unconscious bias among health providers and public health professionals
- Build and foster community trust through partnerships with community-based organizations, grassroots organizations and other community groups
- Create informal and formal partnerships between health departments and communities such as fostering communities of practice, working with community liaisons and/or forming community advisory boards
- Engage communities as you set priorities, make decisions, and facilitate activities
- Leverage community strengths such as social cohesion, a sense of collectivism and community, and respect and concern for the elderly
- Acknowledge that some community strengths may also put community members at higher risk of health disparities.
- Acknowledge and, when possible, address political, social, and physical determinants of health
- Develop communications in the preferred language of the community, using simple and low-literacy terms; pair print materials with video and audio messages
- Acknowledge, observe, and honor cultural norms and perspectives in health education and health communications materials