Thread: Mayo-WSU program focuses on immigrant health

winonadailynews.com
By Elizabeth Baier
Minnesota Public Radio News
Posted: Monday, January 30, 2012 12:00 am


Miriam Goodman, left, of Rochester’s Alliance of Chicanos, Hispanics and Latin Americans speaks with Winona State University nursing student Lisa Lemke. The Mayo Clinic, along with WSU nursing students on the Rochester campus and community groups, are partnering to improve the health of southeast Minnesota’s immigrant population.

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, researchers at the Mayo Clinic are working with more than a dozen community organizations to keep immigrants and refugees from developing common diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

The project, which includes nursing students at Winona State University in Rochester, focuses on southeast Minnesota, an area of the state that has seen some of the largest demographic shifts in the last decade.

"This is a community dedicated to health, and we have a lot of people who aren't healthy living here," said Julie Nigon, program manager at the Hawthorne School, a community and adult education center in Rochester.

The Hawthorne School is often the first stop for immigrants and refugees new to the city. They learn to speak English, take civics classes and meet other immigrants.

The school is a crucial part of a project launched late last year with Mayo researchers and other community groups to develop Healthy Immigrant Families: Working Together to Move More and to Eat Well. The effort aims to create physical activity and nutrition programs with and for immigrant and refugee families.

The Rochester Healthy Community Partnership recently received a 5-year, $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to look for ways to improve the health of the region's growing minority communities.

Nobody knows exactly what it will take to get people to move more and eat well. But barriers to physical activity and nutrition are especially acute among immigrant women, said Miriam Goodman a member of Rochester's Alliance of Chicanos, Hispanics and Latin Americans.

"If I target the moms, mom will make the effort to exercise," Goodman said.

Last fall, Goodman coordinated a six-week fitness program for 45 immigrant and refugee women in Rochester. She said it was the first exercise class for many of them in a group environment.

Serving the needs of a growing population

Health care providers say addressing the health needs of refugees and immigrants is increasingly important, as a growing number call rural Minnesota home.

From 2000 to 2010, Rochester's population grew by 21 percent to 103,000 residents. About 10.4 percent of Olmsted County residents do not speak English as their primary language at home. That's up 6 percent since 2000, according to census data.

Much of this growth comes from immigrants and refugees, who are generally healthier when they arrive in the United States than non-Latino whites. But within a generation, they become almost twice as likely whites to develop diabetes and other chronic diseases.

In part, the problem stems from low levels of family income and education.

Latino adults are up to five times more likely to be uninsured than whites, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Also, poor families tend to stretch their budgets by buying fewer fresh fruits and vegetables and more high-calorie, low-cost convenience food, according to National Council of La Raza researchers.

WSU nursing students become community workers

Nursing students at Winona State University in Rochester are now part of the project to encourage healthy immigrant families. Graduate nursing students will work with community liaisons to serve as healthcare mentors.

Nursing professor Carole Jenson tells students this part of their training will emphasize cultural understanding. With the help of liaisons who speak patients' native languages, students will conduct home visits, go to churches and supermarkets, and build relationships with immigrant patients outside of the hospital and classroom walls.

"If nothing else this semester, build trust," Jenson advises.

Graduate nursing student Sara Berding has worked as a nurse for 10 years in Mason City, Iowa. She said gaining the trust of her patients is a daily challenge, especially when language is a barrier.

"We're relying on pictures and gestures and we know just a few words," Berding said. "When there's no interpreter, it's so frustrating for the parents. We just always worry when we send them home, what are we sending them home with? Do they know what their child had? Do they understand? It's just so frustrating."

While some community groups search for ways to explain more about cultural nuances, others are focused on how to monitor the health progress of patients in the project.

Mayo Clinic doctor Mark Wieland said he's trying to figure out what programs works best for each community. He'll monitor the progress of 40 patients, who will participate in a second round of physical fitness and nutrition classes starting in February.

Wieland said there's no single reason why immigrants and refugees are at a greater risk for developing chronic diseases. But he said providing interpreters and training health care workers to understand their culture is one way to try to keep them healthy.

Read more: Mayo-WSU program focuses on immigrant health

The UN does refer to them as migrant "stock".

TRENDS
IN INTERNATIONAL MIGRANT STOCK: MIGRANTS BY AGE AND
SEX

http://www.un.org/esa/population/pub...tocks_2010.pdf