The UIC College of Medicine-East African
Community Center Health Project
Magan2, I., Hartrich1, M., Nawab3, S., Chertow1, J.
1University
of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
2 University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Adams College of Social Work
3Zakat Foundation of America
Abstract
Photos
East Africa – Chicago Ties
In 2011, the Urban Medicine-East African Community Center (EACC)
Health Project began with the intention of creating a collaboration
between the UIC medical community and the East African community
on the North side of Chicago. Since its inception, the project has
focused on community based participatory research methods to
understand health needs and bring health-related information to the
East African community.
The project includes meetings with recent refugees and immigrants
from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea amongst other countries from the
Horn of Africa. During these sessions, we have gained preliminary
information about health needs and intend to do a more formal health
needs assessment in the near future.
Of all the groups we've encountered at the center, the Somalis
comprise a majority. They are coming from a war-torn region and have
faced not only the violence of a fractured state and natural disasters but
the trauma of having to move from one refugee camp to the next before
arriving in the U.S. Often families get divided leaving the survivors
bereft of the necessary social ties to sustain them through hardship.
A primary focus of our work is to dispel myths about the Somali
community in Chicago and ameliorate hardship. We are in the midst of
conducting projects like researching health needs; disseminating health
information through a mini health "library;" and creating a resource
manual so that the community may better navigate the health care
system.
EACC-UIC COM & SSW Partnership
Since it's inception in early 2010, EACC has rendered various client
based services e.g mediation, interpretation, referral, immigration and
etc. In addition, the agency has under taken various community
outreach and awareness activities including
•Family and children's services e.g. cultural adjustment services
•Youth work, sports and recreational services
•Immigration and citizenship programs
•Health and wellness awareness and sensitization
•Literacy programs e.g. Financial, Employment, Computer,
and Adult literacy and Afterschool programs.
In 2011, The UIC-COM Urban Medicine program joined the EACC ,
working in partnership with the community to:
•Assess their health needs and community assets
•Provide health advocacy for refugee & immigrant populations
•Provide immediate and long-term health education programming
Scale: Please note the difference in scale between East Africa and
Chicago. In actuality, the Horn of Africa (770,000 sq. mi.) is 137
times the size of Chicago (5,620 sq. mi.). Somalia is approximately
the size of Texas (246,200 sq. mi.). Reference:
http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Somalia.html
Methodology
In order to increase awareness of the UIC-COM UMed and EACC
partnership and encourage interest in and awareness of different health
and wellness issues, we have created a health education and information
library at the community center. We have over 30 brochures in English and
Somali on health topics ranging from HIV/AIDS to hypertension to breast
cancer screening.
We are tracking the use of these brochures by simple counts of remaining
brochures and feedback from community members. In addition we have a
suggestion box so that members may anonymously suggest health topics
they would like more information about or those that are not helpful or
relevant to the community.
Migration: The total number of refugees from Somalia to the U.S.
from 1983-2004 was 47,753. 9%, or 4,298 of that number, settled in
Chicago from 1983-2004. Reference: Migration Information Source
(http://migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=585)
Somali Population in Chicago (approximately): Today there are
approximately 1500-2500 Somalis in Chicago based on community
leader reports of there being 400-500 families consisting of 4 or
more people/family.
Reference: Informal conversations with community leaders in
January, 2012.
Preliminary findings
Community leaders at EACC indicate that the health brochures are a
“success.” We are currently gathering information about number of
brochures utilized from the end of July to the present.
Future projects and partnerships
Based on preliminary conversations with EACC members, two projects
will address members concerns about navigating the U.S. health
system. The first project is to research health needs in the community.
Findings will be shared with community members. The second project
is to create a resource manual to address health needs. The manual
will identify local clinics and health resources sensitive to immigrant
and refugee concerns.