Funded Projects

Newly Resettled Afghan Family Health Education

Project Year

2022

City & State

Seattle, Washington

Program Name

CATCH Resident

Topic

Immigrant/Migrant/Refugee/Undocumented

Program Description

The recent political upheaval in Afghanistan after the US removal of troops and subsequent transfer of power to the Taliban has resulted in the displacement of thousands of Afghan families. Washington state is currently in the process of welcoming and resettling a large number of children in humanitarian entrant Afghan families. Around 2,205 Afghans will be resettled in the Greater Seattle Area, and 50% of them are anticipated to be children based on previous arrival numbers from the WA Department of Health. These families have frequently experienced adversity and trauma and continue to experience numerous barriers upon arrival in the US that impact the health of their children including differences between Afghan and US health systems, pre-existing disparities in medical diagnoses (for example untreated congenital heart disease), lack of written or audiovisual pediatric health materials in Dari or Pashto (languages spoken by Afghan new arrivals), few healthcare providers with experience caring for Afghan immigrants, and lack of established community support. Currently, there is a lack of relevant health education information available to support newly resettled Afghans. We hope to create audiovisual pediatric health literacy materials in Dari and Pashto (the most commonly spoken languages among arrivals from Afghanistan), as well as English, for both families and providers. The materials will focus on the most relevant pediatric health topics for newcomer children from Afghanistan. These topics will be selected after receiving input from our community partners, including Afghan Health Initiative, Refugees Northwest, Afghan American Cultural Association, International Rescue Committee, Ethnomed, as well as a committee of primary care pediatricians providing care for immigrant patient populations. We will select 2 health topics and develop 60-second health literacy videos explaining the importance of the topic, as well as specific and culturally-sensitive recommendations for how families can improve their children’s health. We aim to improve primary care pediatric health outcomes by helping families understand and implement standard pediatric medical recommendations (e.g. keeping routine pediatric appointments, brushing teeth daily, receiving routine childhood vaccinations), which they might not otherwise be knowledgeable of due to differences between Afghan and US health systems and public health priorities. We will also track the views on these videos to evaluate their reach to the broader audience. These videos will be made easily available online, so that providers across institutions and in other geographic regions of the US can choose to use them in the care of newly resettled Afghan families.

Project Goal

To evaluate areas where additional healthcare education is needed among Afghan refugee families presenting for pediatric health care and to help healthcare workers discuss differences between US and Afghan health care systems as well as specific preventative healthcare priorities with Afghan refugee families.

Project Objective 1

We will first form a committee of 2-4 pediatricians affiliated with the Harborview Medical Center’s Pediatric Clinic. We will work with these pediatricians to develop a survey to assess the needs of the Afghan refugee community. We will survey at least 10 pediatricians who work with immigrant families - preferably Afghan families - to identify 2 areas of low health literacy. We will also seek survey responses from our community partners: the Afghan Health Initiative, International Rescue Committee, and the Afghan American Cultural Association to further identify areas for health education. We will identify two major preventive pediatric health care topics with which Afghan families are less familiar. This will be completed by July 2022.

Project Objective 2

By October 2022, we will produce two brief, easily accessible health education videos on the select prioritized health topics. These videos will be approximately 60 seconds in length and explain the importance of the topic, as well as how families can improve their children’s health (e.g. preventative dental care requires daily brushing with fluoridated toothpaste and dental visits every 6 months, developmental screenings require attending scheduled pediatrician visits). The material will be produced in English as well as Dari and Pashto so that providers can show them to families during visits, and families will be able to access them independently at a later time.

Project Objective 3

We will disseminate the videos to all regional pediatric clinics in King County, WA to which Afghan humanitarian entrant families may present for care. We will also provide a guide for the general pediatrician on how best to incorporate these videos into their clinic visits. We will also provide information on how Afghan families may access these videos independently online.

AAP District

District VIII

Institutional Name

University of Washington

Contact 1

Maraisha Philogene

Contact 2

Sruti Pisharody