Exploring Outcomes and Patterned Responses to Afghan Refugee Women's Community Participation

Paper

Saturday, 22 July 2006

This presentation is part of : Public Health Initiatives

Teri G. Lindgren, RN, MPH, PhD, Community Health Systems, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

Learning Objective #1: Identify the impact of community participation on Afghan women participants and their community
Learning Objective #2: Describe the implications of community participation on public health practice and research

Community participation, a concept critical to the actualization of the Primary Health Care model, has long been integrated into health programs in developing countries and more recently in American public health nursing programs. It is seen as a cost-effective means to increase access and achieve sustainable heath promotion programs particularly in low income and ethnic communities. Yet there is limited research that has described the impact of participation on participants and their communities. The purpose of this study was to ethnographically examine community participation among Afghan refugee women living in the San Francisco Bay area and identify individual and community changes wrought by women’s long-term participation in their community using Transition Theory as a framework. This paper focuses on the pattern responses (outcomes) of participation at three levels: individual, organizational and community. Findings show that early participatory experiences encouraged Afghan women to form four active community based organizations (CBOs), which now provide a variety of culturally appropriate information-based and service oriented programs that directly benefit needy Afghans. “Now we know” is an overarching theme that captures the way in which women addressed participation’s impact on their lives and their community. Personal and community transitions are articulated along a not knowing/knowing continuum and learning is highly valued. Learning is reflected in the building of networks and connections within and without the community, expanding foci of interest, development of public speaking and technological skills and in taking on politically and culturally sensitive community problems. Despite their participatory successes, participants identified four community level indicators that remain challenging: having and using resources, connecting to other communities, being united and working collaboratively. Implications for public health nursing include: assessing the needs and maintaining collaboration with existing CBOs, providing health and technical assistance, and sharing resources to achieve local community and public health goals.

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