63 A Needs Assessment of Syrian Refugee Families Regarding a Children & Youth Health Promotion Program in Arabic
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Abstract
Background
Refugee families, particularly children and youth, are considered a vulnerable population. They face many health concerns, including barriers to accessing the healthcare system, which may stem from lack of familiarity with the health care system. Despite the great efforts Canada is putting forward to address newcomer needs, there are limited health promotion efforts directed at Arabic-speaking refugee families, particularly in the wake of the influx of Syrian families since 2015. In fact, there is a lack of well-structured, evidence-based, health promotion program, specifically focusing on Arabic-speaking refugee children and youth.
Objectives
Identify Arabic-speaking refugee families’ needs for a child and youth health promotion program within our urban centre. Identify access barriers to existing health promotion resources for new Canadian families.
Design/Methods
We took a qualitative approach, in which semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated, coded and analyzed using a qualitative framework technique. Six focus groups were conducted, in which a total of 25 Arabic-speaking refugee parents were interviewed by Arabic-speaking interviewers.
Results
Among the 25 participants, 18 reported that they were not aware of existing health promotion presentations in our local area. Moreover, none of the 7 participants who were aware of such presentations have ever attended any. The major reason reported is not being invited to attend. Additionally, of the 25 participants, 24 have expressed their desire of having a child and youth health promotion program in Arabic. Among the most requested topics to be presented include medication coverage and pharmacy access in Canada, first-aid management, dental care, interpretation services, healthy lifestyle, fever measurement and management, prevention of unintentional injuries, navigating the Canadian healthcare system and mental health. Moreover, several factors were described to facilitate the families’ attendance to the health promotion presentations. These include presenting about topics of relevance to the refugee families, having the presentations in Arabic, providing parking spaces, having someone to accompany the families’ children during the presentations, arranging the presentations over the weekend or after 5 pm during the weekdays and holding the presentations in a place close to where the families live.
Conclusion
Arabic-speaking refugee families describe strong interest in attending in-person health promotion sessions in Arabic, focusing on child and youth health, and outline diverse topics of interest.
