Gautham Ila, Albert Sophie, Koroma Aisha, Banu Sophia
Baylor College of Medicine, School of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, Houston, Texas, USA.
Health Equity. 2021 Oct 6;5(1):718-723. doi: 10.1089/heq.2020.0148. eCollection 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light many systemic inequities in health care delivery. As medical communities work to address the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations, it is crucial to include refugees in the public health response. Language barriers, poor health literacy, and low socioeconomic status render refugee populations highly susceptible to negative outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the refugee experience with COVID-19, we constructed and administered a survey among refugee populations in Houston, Texas. Our 49-question cross-sectional survey was administered to 44 participants in Arabic, Burmese, Dari, English, Kiswahili, Nepali, Spanish, or Urdu with the use of refugee resettlement case managers acting as translators. The survey encompassed three domains, including a general knowledge assessment of COVID-19, subjective experiences with COVID-19, and risk communication practices within refugee populations. The majority of refugees surveyed admitted to worrying about the effects of COVID-19 on their community (88.6%). The negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic included financial adversity (65.1%) and significant disruption of children's education (62.8%). Although 50.0% of participants self-reported proficiency in English, translation services were used with 75.0% of participants to ensure full comprehension. The implications of our findings suggest that local refugee populations require heightened support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tailored interventions should encompass comprehensive translation and interpretation services, financial assistance, and academic interventions for refugee youth.
新冠疫情暴露了医疗服务提供方面的许多系统性不平等问题。随着医疗界努力应对新冠疫情对弱势群体的不均衡影响，将难民纳入公共卫生应对措施至关重要。语言障碍、健康素养低下和社会经济地位较低使难民群体极易受到新冠疫情负面影响。为了更好地了解难民在新冠疫情中的经历，我们在得克萨斯州休斯敦的难民群体中开展并实施了一项调查。我们的49个问题的横断面调查以阿拉伯语、缅甸语、达里语、英语、斯瓦希里语、尼泊尔语、西班牙语或乌尔都语向44名参与者进行了调查，由难民安置个案管理人员担任翻译。该调查涵盖三个领域，包括对新冠疫情的常识评估、新冠疫情的主观经历以及难民群体内部的风险沟通做法。接受调查的大多数难民承认担心新冠疫情对其社区的影响（88.6%）。新冠疫情的负面影响包括经济困境（65.1%）和儿童教育受到严重干扰（62.
