Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Connecting Refugees to Medical Homes Through Multi-Sector Collaboration

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As increasing numbers of refugees have resettled globally, an interdisciplinary group of stakeholders in Forsyth, North Carolina, recognized obstacles preventing coordinated medical care, which inspired the development of our Refugee Health Collaborative. This study assessed the Collaborative’s impact on access to coordinated care within patient-centered medical homes (PCMH). A Collaborative-developed novel algorithm guided the process by which refugees establish care in PCMHs. All refugees who established medical care in the two primary health systems in our county (n = 285) were included. Logistic non-linear mixed models were used to estimate the differences between three time frames: pre-algorithm, algorithm implementation and refinement, and ongoing algorithm implementation. After algorithm implementation, there has been a significant decrease in the time required to establish care in PCMHs, increased provider acknowledgment of refugee status, and decreased emergency department (ED) visits. Multi-disciplinary, organized collaboration can facilitate enhanced access to care for refugee families at the population level.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  1. Montgomery M, Jackson C, Kelvin E. Premigration harm and depression: findings from the New Immigrant Survey, 2003. J Immigr Minor Health. 2014;16(6):773–80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Palakodeti S. Chronic Disease Prevalence of a Refugee Population in Dayton, OH. 2012. Located at: Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Dayton, Ohio. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1073&context=mph. Accessed 10 May 2017.

  3. Yun K. History of persecution and health outcomes Among U.S. refugees. J Immigr Minor Health. 2016;18(1):263–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Dawson-Hahn E, Pak-Gorstein S, Matheson J, et al. Growth trajectories of refugee and nonrefugee children in the United States. Pediatrics 2016;138(6):e20160953.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Refugee health guidelines. 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/guidelines/refugee-guidelines.html. Accessed 22 Nov 2017.

  6. American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, American Osteopathic Association. Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home 2007. http://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/practice_management/pcmh/initiatives/PCMHJoint.pdf. Accessed 22 Nov 2017.

  7. Szajna A, Ward J. Access to healthcare by refugees: a dimensional analysis. Nurs Forum. 2015;50(2):83–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Wendel G. Philadelphia refugee health collaborative. Soc Innovations J. 2013(13). http://www.socialinnovationsjournal.org/76-featured-social-innovations/811-philadelphia-refugee-health-collaborative. Accessed 10 May 2017.

  9. Payton C, Patel N, Scott K. Jefferson’s Center for Refugee Health: a model of community collaboration. Popul Health Matters. 2015;28(2):102. http://jdc.jefferson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1930&context=hpn. Accessed 10 May 2017.

  10. Shah S, Yun K. Interest in collaborative, practice-based research networks in pediatric refugee healthcare. J Immigr Minor Health. 2016;2016:1–5

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge all active members of the Forsyth Refugee Health Collaborative. Specifically, we recognize our partners at World Relief Triad, the nursing team at the Forsyth County DPH, Jennifer Morillo from the NC Refugee Health Program, NC DHHS/Division of Public Health, local medical practices who provide medical homes for refugee families, and the volunteer “Good Neighbor Teams” who, among many roles, facilitate access to medical care for refugee families. We would also like to acknowledge the Program in Community Engagement of the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WF CTSI), which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Number UL1TR001420.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Lemaat Michael, Alexandra K. Brady, Greg Russell, Scott D. Rhodes, Shahla Namak, Laura Cody & Julie M. Linton

  2. World Relief Triad, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Andrea Vasquez & Jennifer Foy

  3. Forsyth County Department of Public Health, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Andrea Caldwell

Authors
  1. Lemaat Michael
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexandra K. Brady
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Greg Russell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Scott D. Rhodes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shahla Namak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Laura Cody
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Andrea Vasquez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Andrea Caldwell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jennifer Foy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Julie M. Linton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julie M. Linton.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Julie M. Linton, M.D. reports that she was a Community Intern with the Program in Community Engagement of the WFCTSI, for which she received 10% salary support. The WFCTSI is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Number UL1TR001420. Lemaat Michael, B.A., Alexandra K. Brady, M.D., Greg Russell, M.P.H., Scott D. Rhodes, Ph.D., M.P.H., Shahla Namak, M.D., Laura Cody, B.S.B., Andrea Vasquez, B.S.W., Andrea Caldwell, R.N., B.S.N., and Jennifer Foy M.P.A. have no conflicts of interest to report.

Research Involving Human and Animal Participants

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Michael, L., Brady, A.K., Russell, G. et al. Connecting Refugees to Medical Homes Through Multi-Sector Collaboration. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 198–203 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0757-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0757-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation