The direct exposure to physical or psychological trauma from torture or war leads to well-documented individual health consequences. Less understood are the inclusive and intergenerational effects of war trauma on family systems and youth adjustment. The purpose was to examine mechanisms in war-affected families that explained the significant emotional and behavioral consequences of intergenerational trauma in youth through the use of multiple methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS Negl Trop Dis
February 2022
Diagnosing the causative agent of febrile illness in resource-limited countries is a challenge in part due to lack of adequate diagnostic infrastructure to confirm cause of infection. Most febrile illnesses (>60%) are non-malarial, with a significant proportion being zoonotic and likely from animal origins. To better characterize the pathways for zoonotic disease transmission and control in vulnerable communities, adequate information on the communities' experiences and lexicon describing fever, and their understanding and perceptions of risk pathways is required.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe refugee narrative spans time, geography, and generations, enfolding the complexity of constructing identities through displacement and migration. Through adapted narrative analysis, we examined the physical narratives of war trauma which a sample of Karen refugee women constructed, as they claimed their experiences of war trauma and torture in interview discussions. We employed an adapted narrative method relevant to the analysis of field texts to interpret the remembering and retelling of trauma narratives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZoonotic diseases pose a significant health challenge at the human-wildlife interface, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where ecosystem services contribute significantly to local livelihoods and individual well-being. In Uganda, the fragmented forests of Hoima district, form part of a "biodiversity and emerging infectious disease hotspot" composed of communities with high dependency on these wildlife protected areas, unaware of the associated health risks. We conducted a cross-sectional mixed methods study from March to May 2017 and interviewed 370 respondents, using a semi-structured questionnaire from eight villages neighbouring forest fragments in Hoima District, Uganda.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe intergenerational effects of trauma resulting from torture and war are complex and multi-faceted and have important implications for the family system. The current study aimed to identify key relationships between refugee maternal caregiver exposure to torture, mental health, and physical health with maternal-reported youth adjustment. Ninety-six Karen maternal caregivers originating from Burma and resettled in the United States participated in a cross-sectional, explanatory mixed methods study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs numbers of culturally diverse students rise, struggles with language, cultural differences, and health care create challenges for school nurses. The focus of this quality improvement project was to utilize the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) as a framework to initiate cultural competency development among school nurses. Eighteen public school nurses attended programming that began with the webinar "CLAS is in Session," an introduction to the standards as applicable to school nursing practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Care Women Int
May 2020
Sociopolitical discourses surrounding refugee migration and resettlement are characterized by divisiveness, assumptions, and fear. When these discussions are grounded in the narratives of women refugees a deeper understanding of issues impacting health, family, and resilience emerges. We examine how 26 Karen women living in camps along the Thai-Burma border construct meaning around health, in relation to livelihoods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Immigr Minor Health
October 2019
Health Realization (HR) is a strengths-based stress and coping intervention used to promote the use of internal and external coping resources. Our three-arm comparison group trial examined the effects of a culturally adapted Somali HR intervention on coping and mental health outcomes in 65 Somali refugee women post-resettlement. Subjects participated one of three conditions: HR intervention, nutrition attention-control, and evaluation-control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this analysis was to explore the recontextualization of mothering in Karen refugees from Burma. We collected ethnographic data over an 11-month period with a cohort of 12 Karen women postresettlement. Using Spradley's and tools of critical discourse analysis, we interpreted the migration narratives of women, in particular, experiences they shared as mothers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined the associations between positive and negative religious coping, symptoms of depression and anxiety, physical and emotional well-being among Somali college students in Minnesota. In this online cross-sectional survey study, 156 participants (ages 18-21, M = 21, SD = 2.3) were recruited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Refugee trauma survivors often experience posttraumatic stress disorder, other anxiety disorders, depression, and somatization. As a result, many suffer a disproportionate vulnerability to a variety of interpersonal, health, and social problems.
Objective: The study purpose was to develop a preliminary predictive model identifying high-risk refugee trauma survivors based on levels of trauma and psychological functioning.
Africa is faced with many of the most daunting challenges of our time. It comprises roughly 15% of the world's human population, and most of its countries are perpetually ranked "Low" on the United Nations' Human Development Index. On the other hand, Africa has arguably the largest proportion of intact natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and sociocultural capital and the lowest impact on global warming of any continent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objectives of this study were to assess differences in premigration, transit, and resettlement stressor exposure and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as a function of demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, ethnicity, age, time in United States) and to examine the concurrent and longitudinal relations between stressor exposure and PTSD symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFarmers are exposed to hazardous noise from equipment and livestock and experience high rates of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL); however, their use of hearing protection devices (HPDs) is low. The purpose of this study was to describe farmers' personal experiences using HPDs, influencing others' use of HPDs, and overcoming barriers to the use of HPDs. A purposive sample of farmers who reported a high frequency of HPD use was selected for face-to-face interviews.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study aim was to describe displaced Bosnian mothers' experiences caring for their children during and immediately after the war (1992-1995). Mothers described their progression into war, through war, and into vastly changed lives. Using ethnographic methods, narrative data were collected near Sarajevo, Bosnia, from 14 displaced women who participated in one to three interviews each between 1996 and 1999.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRefugees have faced extraordinarily stressful situations in their past, and many continue to experience stress daily as they cope with the refugee adjustment experience. A strengths-based, community-focused intervention known as Health Realization (HR) is a promising strategy for nurses to promote positive psychological outcomes in these populations. Although similar in some ways to cognitive therapy, the HR intervention emphasizes the role of thought versus the content of thought.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study explored Latino construction workers' experiences with occupational noise and hearing protection to provide qualitative data to be used in designing an intervention to prevent noise-induced hearing loss. An ecological framework provided the theoretical foundation for this study. Fifteen Latino construction workers participated in one of four focus groups exploring perceptions of exposure to noise on the job and barriers to and supports for wearing hearing protection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: This paper reports a study identifying the demographic characteristics, self-reported trauma and torture prevalence, and association of trauma experience and health and social problems among Somali and Oromo women refugees.
Background: Nearly all refugees have experienced losses, and many have suffered multiple traumatic experiences, including torture. Their vulnerability to isolation is exacerbated by poverty, grief, and lack of education, literacy, and skills in the language of the receiving country.
During a public health emergency such as an influenza pandemic or a bioterrorism attack, nurses may be at risk for exposure to lethal infectious diseases when caring for victims. The aim of this study was to identify interventions nurses believe will support their ability to cope during public health emergencies. A qualitative research design was used with 33 nurses from designated bioterrorism-receiving hospitals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Infect Control
August 2006
Background: Since the events of September 11, 2001, subsequent anthrax mailings, world political events, and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the recent tsunami, public health emergencies including bioterrorism events are viewed as realistic possibilities. Public health emergencies would stress the current health care system.
Objective: The objective was to identify beliefs and concerns of nurses who work in hospitals designated as receiving sites during public health emergencies.
Purpose: To describe war-related trauma history, immigration factors, problems, and coping of Somali and Oromo refugee youth.
Methods: Analysis of a subset of participants (N = 338) aged 18-25 years from a population-based survey of Somali and Oromo refugees conducted in 2000-2002. Data included trauma history, life situation, and scales for physical (Cronbach alpha =.
Objectives: This cross-sectional, community-based, epidemiological study characterized Somali and Ethiopian (Oromo) refugees in Minnesota to determine torture prevalence and associated problems.
Methods: A comprehensive questionnaire was developed, then administered by trained ethnic interviewers to a nonprobability sample of 1134. Measures assessed torture techniques; traumatic events; and social, physical, and psychological problems, including posttraumatic stress symptoms.