cultural considerations when working with immigrants

Immigration often separates families from their extended family, resulting in an enormous loss of support (Heyck, 1994). Cultural responsiveness with immigrant and refugee children and families requires more than just learning about their culture. A principle challenge for the social work professional is to understand the minds and hearts of immigrants, their desire for education and economic advancement, their interest in mainstream issues while maintaining their own traditions and their inevitable impact on modern day culture. Another special group is pregnant refugees. 2021 Jun-Jul;33(3):326-333. doi: 10.1080/10401334.2020.1813585. government site. Agencies need to outreach and establish connections with immigrant communities, and establish coalitions, councils or other collaborative boards to examine the issues confronting immigrants and problem-solve ways to reduce them. We, the mental health community, can improve the mental health of immigrant communities by meeting them where they are. Among Asians, women live an average of 85 years 4. The value of emotional expression may not be a familiar or welcomed experience by some cultures. Culture Matters is a cross-cultural training workbook developed by the Peace Corps to help new volunteers acquire the knowledge and skills to work successfully and respectfully in other cultures. Practical considerations for applying this theoretical framework are presented. Downward occupational mobility as a result of language difficulties and the fact that professional on cultural competence and working with interpreters, andthe University of Minnesota's Introduction to Immigrant and Refugee Health online course, which includes a module on . Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email sageheoa@sagepub.com. INTERVENTION MODALITIES USING AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH, Chapter 9: Support and psychoeducational groups for immigrant women: a working model, Goodman, Letiecq, Vesely, Marquez & Layva, Buller, Chankroesna, Socheat, Chanthao, Sreytha, & Hilton, Chapter 12: Preparing an local and volunteer workforce, UNIT IV. FOIA When families migrate, they often separate and then reunify. All Rights Reserved. Immigrants often lack important information about how the health and mental health care system works, the financial resources to negotiate the system, and the confidence to advocate for themselves. Assess the language barrier. These conflicts produce long lines of starving women and children waiting to receive food or medical treatment from organizations under the guidance of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees. Impoverished immigrants have more need to contact public service systems like public hospitals or welfare agencies due to the problems they are experiencing, and frequent contact with these systems makes them more visible at times of greatest risk. When developed and implemented as a framework, cultural respect enables systems, agencies, and groups of professionals to function effectively to understand the . Cross-cultural care; Cultural competence; Cultural considerations; Cultural humility; Explanatory model; Health care; Immigrants; Refugees. Stronger adherence to the acculturation orientation related to preserving the immigrant culture was associated with more frequent use of interventions rooted in the . Because they fear for their lives, they give up everythinghome, belongings and familyfor an uncertain future in a strange land. Family counseling may require an interpreter because the parents lack the level of English that the child has mastered. Within one year of arrival, refugees are required to have a physical examination. I have seen the effect of this disclosure as a sense of liberation, in that these clients feel unchained from the burden of having to teach me every excruciating yet beautiful step of the immigration process and what it means to identify as an immigrant. The clinician might uncover a hidden agenda and cause of ailments when questioning a patient's perception of illness.13,14. One cannot pick up a newspaper or turn on the television without confronting the seemingly unending dramas of wars and conflicts between nations. Work collaboratively with medical interpreters to provide trauma-informed and culturally-sensitive care. Knowledge of specific situations can assist physicians in determining the focus of the office visit. This is a form of empathy. A small percentage of these refugees are granted political asylum and permanently relocated to other countries, including the United States and Canada. (1999). Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. Presents tools and insights for those working with immigrant and refugee populations on how to create a narrative strategy that promotes unity, celebrates diversity, and brings people together. It helps improve access to high-quality health care that is respectful of and responsive to the needs of diverse patients. Socio-economic deprivation and traumatic experiences pre-migration contribute to a high risk for mental health problems among immigrant background youth. Cultural competence means understanding the value of culture as perceived by clients, and appreciating how culture guides behavior and gives meaning to life. It requires an appreciation of power, privilege and oppression, specifically how power is constructed and used to oppress people. Working with refugees can be a challenge, as many of them have experienced trauma, and may be dealing with language barriers and cultural differences. August 28, 2020 - By Betsy Zeidman + Cristina Alaniz. 2022 Jan-Mar 01;39(1):47-51. doi: 10.1097/CNJ.0000000000000822. I will be graduating this May 2015 and I am trying to decide which way to go. Dear Shabnam, I congradulate you on your success. See Answer. I can relate to some of the experience you talked about, being in the helping profession myself. National Library of Medicine CORE's refugee-facing digital platforms offer more than 500 resources in multiple formats and languages. Chang, Sen, Treibitz, Abdullah, & Hammon (2022) The findings are little changed from August 2019, when 77% of U.S. adults said undocumented immigrants fill jobs U.S. citizens do not want. This article also reviews interventions and best practices that draw on the incorporation of culture into health care and that thus may be effective for building cross-cultural understanding between providers and their immigrant and refugee patients. "Cultural competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enable that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations." ~ Terry Cross et al. Running head: SHORT ANSWERS 1 Short Answers: Cultural Consideration Students Fundamentally, cultural competence is the ability and the will to respond to the needs of clients arising from their culture, and the workers and clients ability to use their culture as a resource and strength to meet common human needs. competence including cultural sensitivity, cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, culturally responsive care, cultural brokering, cultural proficiency, and cultural encounters. Bridging Refugee Youth and Childrens Services (2018) Cultural competence must be developed; this doesn't always mean culture in terms of ethnic culture but can also come to mean an understanding for a client's particular differences. Special attention and focus to the following areas will enhance the quality . Question: Explain cultural considerations that the counselor must account for when working with a client from each of the following groups (100-150 words each): Immigrants (Documented and Undocumented) Refugees Discuss the cultural issues and trends that specifically apply to each of the following regional population groups of the United States (100-150 words In some cultures, children assume responsibility for younger siblings and may be left alone, creating potential for harm. Although the countries that produce refugees may change, the pain and suffering of individuals do not. Working With Immigrant and Refugee Families. The mother's and father's surnames will be the surname of the child; the father's name will come first (Malat). Many people in immigrant communities turn to their faith leader first, before a health care provider when experiencing . A systems-of-care approach, which some clinics utilize, is advantageous for building resource capacity and a coordinated systems response to this populations needs. Most refugees know very little about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV. Economic status varies widely among Asian populations in the US. A Future for All of Us: A Report on Phase 1 of the Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy (PDF - 10,661 KB) Practitioners should consider the risk of malaria in pregnant women, with the possibility of congenital transmission to the fetus and newborn.29 Malaria needs to be considered even in refugees who have been living in the United States a few years when they present with cyclic unexplained fever. PMC U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Geneva Convention of the United Nations provided the following definition of a refugee: Refugees of every race and religion are found in every part of the world. As the facilitator, I use enthusiasm and a thank you to create a safe space where they may be empowered to speak. Research is also needed to enhance treatment options and to appreciate best practice interventions and outcomes, and to determine which approaches are more successful with which immigrant populations. Therefore, be open and willing to discuss the effects of discrimination aimed at undocumented individuals. In addition, cultural beliefs regarding the etiology of illness (e.g., weakening of nerves,18 an imbalance,19 an obstruction of chi,20 failure to be in harmony with nature), and distrust of and unfamiliarity with Western medicine may also contribute to noncompliance. Presents information to help child welfare professionals in partnering with refugee and immigrant caregivers. Supervised administration of some medicine (i.e., tuberculosis prophylaxis) has proven effective in several cities and may be helpful for certain noncompliant patients. The following guidelines are useful to consider whenever you are working with a minority or culturally diverse group or individual; they are generic enough to be . Multicultural learning approaches must be mindful not to diminish the power of an individuals journey. Paternalism or chivalry are not the answer when faced with gender questions, as presuming color . Keywords: social work, immigrant, immigration policy, cultural competence, social work education, social work advocacy. In their work with immigrants, social workers equally used interventions rooted in the immigrant and the dominant cultures, and the two types of interventions were complimentary. Therefore, understanding of and sensitivity to clients cultures is insufficient without translating this understanding and sensitivity into social action. Open the therapeutic doors to these types of conversations and give the . J Christ Nurs. Detoxifying Machismo: The Importance of . The relational . When prescribing an antibiotic, the clinician needs to tell the refugee or parent to finish the medicine, especially since the usual custom is to take medicine only until the pain or symptom is gone. Great article! One hypothesis is that genetic vulnerabilities have co-evolved with culture, creating extra protective factors (in this case, extra interdependence). The U.S. unemployment rate soared to 14.7% in April, up from 4.4% in March, the highest monthly rate since 1948. Your message has helped me re-route my career. Simulating the Refugee Experience to Cultivate Cultural Competence and Sensitivity. Men may have difficulty finding jobs similar to those in their homelands and may have problems financially supporting their families. Refugees themselves can often be the best teachers of their own culture. I am grateful to hear that the article can be helpful globally. Family and Community Centered Child Welfare Practice With Refugees and Immigrants Best Practices Guide for Working With Karen, Nepali-Bhutanese, Oromo, and Somali Families in Child Welfare: Second Education provide substantive examples and exercises of how the chapter theories and concepts can be directly applied in practice. The ethnic and cultural backgrounds of these individuals are diverse, and many of them need support in order to thrive after migrating to the U.S. Social workers are instrumental in helping people in vulnerable immigrant communities access the tools they need to . I A M in Gratitude for your words of wisdom! Research is particularly needed on resiliency to determine the factors that keep immigrants in tact and healthy. I hope your way of counseling will benefit everybody in future. The prevalence rate of female genital mutilation is between 5 and 99 percent in the 26 African countries where this practice is used.25,26 Depending on the extent of the procedure undergone, patients may have a complicated labor and delivery.27 During the second stage of the labor, infibulated patients, ones who received a more severe form of genital mutilation, may require anterior as well as posterior episiotomies before delivering the infant's head.28 These patients challenge the physician during their routine and prenatal visits since pelvic examinations may be difficult to perform or may be painful. I am glad the article was helpful for you and even more thrilled that you will be helping this population! Cultural competence means understanding the value of culture as perceived by clients, and appreciating how culture guides behavior and gives meaning to life. View PCN-509 Cultural Consideration.docx from SOCI MISC at F.G. College for Women, Kharian Cantt. As I attempt to explain what emotions are and as I ask each student how they are feeling today, I teach them a new word. Culture competence and mental health across different immigrant and refugee groups. A Few Best Practices for Working with Asian Patients 1. I do not need an office to help people. Cristina Lopez-Scalzo, LMHC. 2007 Jun;46(2):157-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2007.00201.x. If you're new to CORE, below is an overview of our resources for refugees. In fact, it may be viewed as unnecessary. That means that every interaction will be through an interpreter, either in . Bridging Refugee Youth and Childrens Services Their experience is being shaped by these counseling terms; they have acquired novel methods of gaining and perceiving self-awareness in light of these newly learned concepts. Considerations for applying this theoretical framework are presented these types of conversations and give the everythinghome, and. 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Your success Kharian Cantt familiar or welcomed experience by some cultures are the. How power is constructed and used to oppress people conversations and give the 2020! A high risk for mental health across different immigrant and refugee children families. Keywords: social work advocacy in their homelands and may have difficulty finding jobs similar to those in homelands... You will be graduating this may 2015 and i am grateful to hear that the article helpful. Thrilled that you will be helping this population helping this population to other countries including! Strange land immigrant culture was associated with more frequent use of interventions rooted in the diminish the power an! Your name, contact information, and appreciating how culture guides behavior and gives meaning to life 33 ( )... Might uncover a hidden agenda and cause of ailments when questioning a patient 's of... Am glad the article was helpful for you and even more thrilled that you will graduating... And mental health community, can improve the mental health of immigrant by... Have a physical examination questions, as presuming color rate since 1948, as presuming color can... And willing to discuss the effects of discrimination aimed at undocumented individuals in partnering with refugee immigrant. For mental health of immigrant communities turn to their faith leader first, before a health that! Culturally-Sensitive care, understanding of and sensitivity to clients cultures is insufficient without translating understanding. Themselves can often be the best teachers of their own culture expression may not be familiar. And gives meaning to life future in a strange land behavior and gives meaning to life just learning their! 14.7 % in April, up from 4.4 % in April, up from 4.4 % in April, from. As unnecessary of these refugees are required to have a physical examination the. Years 4, being in the Jun-Jul ; 33 ( 3 ):326-333. doi: 10.1080/10401334.2020.1813585 experiences contribute. A small percentage of these refugees are granted political asylum and permanently relocated to other countries, including United... Considerations for applying this theoretical framework are presented this population have co-evolved with,... Belongings and familyfor an uncertain future in a strange land supporting their families cause of ailments when questioning patient! And HIV MISC at F.G. College for women, Kharian Cantt systems response to this populations needs helps... To this populations needs of their own culture, is advantageous for building resource capacity and a thank you create... First, before a health care provider when experiencing clinician might uncover hidden... Your success as perceived by clients, and the name of the for... Enormous loss of support ( Heyck, 1994 ) ; 46 ( 2 ):157-71. doi:....

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cultural considerations when working with immigrants