Paper
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Health Needs of African Refugee Women in a Midwestern City in the US
Gladys Mabunda, RN, PhD, School of Nursing, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, USA and Tracey Jo Smith, RNC, MS, Office of Education and Curriculum, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Describe the health promotion needs of East African refugee women living in the US |
| Learning Objective #2: Describe the challenges encountered by community health nurses as they work with East African refugee women |
Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the health needs of African refugees living in a Midwestern city. Design: Qualitative research methods were used to conduct this exploratory study. Population, Sample, Setting: The target population for this study was African refugee women living in a mid-western city. A convenience sample of 15 African refugee women were recruited from a health fair held at a Park. The setting for the study was therefore in a city Park. Concept or variable or intervention: Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted using an interview guide. Open-ended questions were used to identify the perceived health needs and access to health care. Data were analyzed using qualitative methods of data analysis. Data was entered in a word processor, and analyzed manually. It was then classified and categorized as related to the questions. It was scrutinized to discover recurrent patterns, saturation of ideas, similarities and differences. Data were then synthesized and findings were interpreted. Findings: Two themes emerged from the data: Theme 1: Participants have access to health care and are satisfied with the services they receive. Theme 2: Participants would like to have opportunities to engage in health promotion activities, especially exercises. Conclusions: These results are very significant in that the need for health promotion activities is consistent with the Healthy People 2010 objective: to increase the number of adults who engage in regular physical activities. Implications: The refugees stated they have access to health care, therefore it is important during regular health care visits that nurses make sure to assess a refugees’ ability to meet their needs for physical activity, to assess barriers to participation in physical activity, and to counsel them on ways to increase physical activity.
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