Poster Presentation
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
2:45 PM - 3:30 PM
Former Soviet Union Immigrant Women's Acculturation and Preventive Health Care Utilization
L. Louise Ivanov, DNS, School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA, Ashley Leak, MSN, School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA, Kenneth Gruber, PhD, School of Human Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA, and Olga McLeod, BSN, Nursing, Moses Cone Health System, NC, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: identify migration health behaviors prevalent in an immigrant population from the former Soviet Union. |
| Learning Objective #2: discuss culturally appropriate interventions for providing timely preventive health care to immigrants from the former Soviet Union. |
Few studies have been conducted with the immigrant and refugee population from the former Soviet Union examining their use of preventive health care services. Research conducted on migration of populations found that individuals migrate to new geographic settings with health behaviors based on their experiences with health care services in their countries of origin. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among acculturation, health behaviors (self-breast exam, physical activity), and use of preventive health care services (mammography, Pap smear) among women from the former Soviet Union currently living in the US. A convenience sample of 99 participants was obtained from a community center for refugees and immigrants. A Demographic Information for Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union Survey (DIFSU) and the Language, Identity, and Behavior Acculturation Survey (LIB, Birman) were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The age range of the sample was 18-83 with 50% living in the US 6 years or less. The findings indicated that as women’s English language proficiency improved and they considered themselves to be engaging in American behaviors, they were more likely to receive timely mammograms, pap smears, conduct monthly self breast exams, and engage in physical activity. Using length of time in the US as a measure of acculturation, women in the US less than five years were less likely to have a mammogram but just as likely to have a pap smear as women in the US longer than 5 years supporting research on migration behavior. Mammography as a preventive measure is not practiced in Russia but pap smears are. In summary, the findings support the need to better understand migration health behaviors of immigrants and refugees in order to provide culturally appropriate preventive health care services.