Partnerships

Many refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) community members experience significant cultural, linguistic, and logistical barriers to accessing health information and healthcare, including accurate information about COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines, and vaccination opportunities.

Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are a broad category of medicines that people can buy without a prescription from a healthcare provider. These are often recommended to safely treat or provide symptom relief for common health issues, including COVID-19. For refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities, the lack of translated resources for how to use OTC medicines, including potential drug interactions, can present a significant safety risk.

Social media is a primary source of information for much of the US public, especially youth and young adults. This includes people in refugee, immigrant and migrant (RIM) communities who may not utilize traditional media sources that are not published in their language.

In the COVID-19 response, partnerships are essential to reaching refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities, maximizing resources, reducing duplicating efforts, and improving the delivery of services and resources. The requirement in most of the U.S., that a person must visit a medical facility to receive medical services, is a large barrier for many individuals and communities, particularly for preventive health care such as immunizations.

In the COVID-19 response, partnerships are essential to reach underserved communities, maximize resources, reduce duplicating efforts, and improve the delivery of services and resources. Refugee resettlement agencies and local health departments work independently and collaboratively to ensure that the people and communities they serve are healthy.

Effective COVID-19 response among refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) populations requires relationships with communities. There may be some challenges in figuring out where to start when building or enhancing relationships with communities. One consideration for health departments includes engaging with the consulates or population-specific business organizations of RIM communities in your area.

In coordinating an effective COVID-19 response, partnerships with existing community groups are essential for reaching underserved communities and improving the delivery of services, resources, and information. Youth groups can be especially effective outreach partners, helping to provide door-to-door information, distributing resources and empowering the youth in the community to be active participants in emergency health response.

In the COVID-19 response, partnerships are essential to reaching refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities, maximizing resources, reducing duplicative efforts, and improving the delivery of services and resources. Collaboration allows limited federal, state, and local resources to be targeted and allocated to areas that need the resources most. Likewise, it is also essential to provide information and services via channels that community members actively use and trust.

Effective COVID-19 response among refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities requires relationships with communities. Lack of information in the community can foster distrust with the health department, lead to hesitancy to cooperate with case investigators and contact tracers, and potentially worsen health outcomes. There may be some difficulty in knowing where to start when building or strengthening relationships with a community.

In the COVID-19 response, partnerships are essential to reach underserved communities, maximize resources, reduce duplication of efforts, and improve the delivery of culturally- and linguistically-appropriate services and resources. Community Health Workers (CHWs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and local health departments (LHDs) share goals to improve community health, particularly among disproportionately impacted populations.

In the COVID-19 response, partnerships are essential to reach refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities, maximize resources, reduce duplicating efforts, and improve the delivery of services and resources.

In the COVID-19 response, partnerships are essential to reach underserved communities, maximize resources, reduce duplicating efforts, and improve the delivery of services and resources. Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and local health departments (LHDs) share goals to improve community health, particularly among disproportionately impacted populations. Collaboration allows limited federal, state, and local resources to be targeted and allocated to areas that need the resources most.

Immunization rates are lower among refugee, immigrant and migrant (RIM) communities due to factors which include cultural and linguistic diversity, knowledge and beliefs about a disease and vaccine, and challenges accessing healthcare (related to cost, transportation, medical system complexity/unfamiliarity, lack of welcoming environment, etc.). This challenge is expected to persist as the COVID-19 vaccine becomes increasingly available.

State and local health departments (SLHD) may work with community-based organizations (CBOs), resettlement agencies, and faith-based organizations to reach refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities. However, in order to more effectively address the health needs of incoming refugee arrivals, SLHD should partner with State Refugee Health Coordinators to better assess refugee health needs as part of a comprehensive and effective COVID-19 public health response.