Project Summary
The Rohingya are a stateless ethnic and religious minority who experienced systemic human rights abuses such as forced labor, arbitrary arrests, sexual violence, and the denial of access to health care and education in their native Myanmar (United Nations Human Rights Council 2016). No research has been conducted to document the health and mental health concerns facing Rohingya refugees since their initial arrival into the United States in 2010; however, generally, refugees experience psychological distress, psychiatric symptoms (e.g., PTSD, anxiety, depression), and greater vulnerability to stress due to pre-migration trauma. These mental health problems, as well as physical health problems, may compound due to post-migration challenges, including difficulties finding employment, learning English, acculturating to American culture, and accessing healthcare services.
As project co-leads, we have demonstrated our ability to engage consumers, consumer caregivers, clinicians, and healthcare administrators in community-based participatory research, including on sensitive topics such as mental health treatment and condom use behaviors. This project seeks to form an infrastructure to conduct patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER) with stakeholders committed to improving health for Rohingya refugees settled in Chicago, beginning with an existing collaboration between the project co-leads and a community organization, the Rohingya Culture Center. We plan to develop a Community Advisory Board comprising consumers, clinicians, researchers, religious leaders, and health clinic administrators. We will collaborate with an organization with experience in leadership development with Asian American communities to engage and train stakeholders in patient-centered research. Following the training, members will utilize concept mapping to identify priorities for CER.