Multicultural and Refugee Health Services, HNE Health, Harker Building, Wallsend Health Services, Longworth Ave, Wallsend NSW, Newcastle, 2287, Australia.
College of Medicine & Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2022 Jul 28;22(1):1434. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13850-1.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups worldwide. Newly emerging CALD populations formed by recently arrived refugees are predisposed to even greater health disadvantages due to complexities of the refugee experience. The aim of this study was to explore how culture, refugee experiences and existing relationships shaped what COVID-19 messages were listened to and shared during the early-mid phases of the pandemic. The work focused on three newly emerging refugee groups in the Hunter New England region, Australia: Afghan, Congolese and Syrian communities.
Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the experiences and stories of 15 adult community members, nine influential members and six service providers. All community members arrived in Australia on or after January 2014. Interpreter-assisted interviews were conducted with small groups or individuals, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim in English. Three levels of thematic data analysis were employed to uncover the important issues and experiences of the participants.
Three key themes and several subthemes were identified. The themes were: 1) Experience as a refugee uniquely influences COVID-19 message communication; 2) Refugee groups use diverse practices when accessing and sharing COVID-19 messages; and 3) Official government messages could be improved by listening and tailoring to community needs.
Effective health messaging relies on reaching communities in a culturally acceptable and meaningful way. Official COVID-19 messages can be tailored to engage newly emerging communities by improving the quality of the content, delivery and format whilst working collaboratively with communities and trusted service providers. Further mutual research is needed to understand emerging communities' viewpoints. The use of culturally informed approaches is recommended.
COVID-19 大流行对全球文化和语言多样化（CALD）群体造成了不成比例的影响。新出现的由新抵达难民形成的 CALD 群体由于难民经历的复杂性，更容易处于更大的健康劣势之中。本研究旨在探讨文化、难民经历和现有关系如何影响人们在大流行的早期和中期阶段对 COVID-19 信息的倾听和分享。这项工作主要集中在澳大利亚新英格兰亨特地区的三个新出现的难民群体：阿富汗、刚果和叙利亚社区。
采用定性、半结构化访谈的方法，对 15 名成年社区成员、9 名有影响力的成员和 6 名服务提供者的经历和故事进行了探讨。所有社区成员都是在 2014 年 1 月或之后抵达澳大利亚的。对小团体或个人进行了带口译的访谈，并用英语进行了录音和逐字转录。采用了三级主题数据分析方法，以揭示参与者的重要问题和经历。
确定了三个关键主题和几个子主题。这些主题是：1）难民经历独特地影响 COVID-19 信息传播；2）难民群体在获取和分享 COVID-19 信息时使用多种实践方法；3）官方政府信息可以通过倾听和满足社区需求进行改进。
有效的健康信息传播依赖于以文化上可接受和有意义的方式接触社区。官方的 COVID-19 信息可以通过改进内容质量、交付方式和格式来适应新出现的社区，同时与社区和可信赖的服务提供者合作。需要进一步进行相互研究，以了解新兴社区的观点。建议使用文化知情的方法。
