Tri-County Health Department's Refugee Health Education Program

Spotlight on the Scholars in Public Health Practice: 

Tri-County Health Department

“Refugee Health Guide Notebook and Health Education”

Story by Michelle Anzlovar, RN, BSN, Tri-County Health Department

Earlier this year, the Center for Public Health Practice of the Colorado School of Public Health solicited proposals from individuals working in any aspect of public health in Colorado for financial support for a 12 month project. The funding for these projects was sponsored by the Colorado Health Foundation. The general purpose of this fellowship is to support scholars to create novel and useful products, as well as to provide academic enrichment to those working in public health fields in Colorado to enhance their professional work.  Tri-County’s proposal to develop the Refugee Health Guide Notebook and Health Education program was selected as one of the Scholars in Public Health Practice awards. Materials, translation and transportation assistance were supported with these funds.  Project staff include:  Michelle Anzlovar, RN, BSN, Marian Greenway RN, BSN, and Lola Ogunmodede, RN, MHN.  For more information about the program, please contact Michelle Anzlovar, manzlova@tchd.org.

In the fall of 2010, a collaborative between Tri-County Health Department, Mercy Housing, and the Original Aurora Community Integration Collaborative (OACIC) was formed to address concerns regarding the health needs of refugee women.  Through this collaboration, it was determined that the refugees would benefit from health education classes to increase health promotion and decrease confusion about the health care system.  A main component of the classes would include introducing the refugees to the Health Guide Notebook, as well as the assistance needed to fill it out.

The program consists of having four health education courses over a year, targeted specifically to refugee women.  Each course is conducted once a week for six weeks, with 8 to 10 participants per class.  Each class is 2-3 hours long and topics covered include women’s health issues, nutrition, health promotion, and additional topics based on the needs of the class. Health education materials and the Health Guide Notebook are presented to each participant at the beginning of the course.  Instructions are also provided for the participants regarding the purpose of the notebook and how to use it.  The notebook contains information for clients to use during health care visits including demographics, allergies, immunization records and previous appointments.  In addition, the notebook contains information specific to the client’s country of origin, including languages and cultural practices that might be barriers to the client accessing services.

 The core curriculum covers women’s health issues, including nutrition, health promotion, and family planning.  During the first class of each new course, participants are asked what other topics they would be interested in covering over the six weeks.  This is based on the idea that if they are allowed to be involved is setting priorities for the course, there will be greater participation.  Based on this feedback, the curriculum is then developed for the remaining classes.

The outcomes we expect to see are an increase in the participant’s knowledge of the importance of health promotion and a demonstrated increased knowledge of the importance of health promotion, not only for themselves, but also for family members. 

The project staff members follow up with the refugee women one month after completion of the course to determine whether they found the women’s health education classes and Refugee Health Guide Notebook to be useful.  In a recent follow up with women who completed the course, the women indicated that they found the classes to be useful and they had used the Health Guide Notebook during their health care visits.