When refugees escape from war, conflict, famine and other disasters, it’s not unusual for them to end up in King County. We are one of the nation’s major host communities for refugees. A well-organized local network of agencies helps refugees take the first steps into a new life. This network emerged in 1979, when an earlier wave of refugees came from Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries.
One first step for every refugee is a visit to the Refugee Health clinic inside the Downtown Public Health Center, in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. We sat down with Refugee Health Program Manager Annette Holland to learn more about the refugee experience.
Why do all refugees need to come visit the Public Health clinic?
But, we also learned over time that we can improve peoples’ lives if we use this one clinic visit to more broadly understand their health needs. So, we also check for lead exposure, anemia, hypertension, diabetes, and a number of other conditions.
After they leave us, they’ll go to a primary care medical provider in the community, so we help explain how to navigate the American health-care system. And we can transfer their test results so any needed treatments can start right away.
Over time, refugees have come from different parts of the world in crisis, so where are they coming from in recent years? And how does your staff adjust to different languages and cultures?
The top five countries of origin in recent years have been Iraq, Ukraine, Burma, Somalia and Afghanistan. If you think about it, that’s a lot of different languages and cultures. So, we employ a talented and varied group of interpreters in our clinic. I can’t over emphasize the importance of having an interpreter present to greet our new arrivals, orient them to our clinic, interpret and help the families to navigate this new healthcare world, whilst ensuring that everything that is discussed is understood and that any cultural barriers are overcome or addressed.
In fact, many members of our refugee health team were once refugees themselves, so they have a deep understanding of the trauma and concerns that refugees may be experiencing.
Keep in mind that refugees are a small portion of the overall immigrant community, and they have some unique needs. About 2,000 per year settle in King County. A refugee is defined by international treaty as someone who has a well-founded fear of being persecuted in his or her home country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
How does the Refugee Health Clinic fit into the bigger picture of assimilating refugees into our communities?
The resettlement process starts long before a refugee comes to the U.S. It can take many years to obtain refugee status and permission to come to the U.S. There are many interviews, background checks and a health screening which take place overseas. Once they’re here, a number of community organizations help refugees work toward self-sufficiency and become contributing members of American society.
In King County, there’s a well-established network, the New Arrivals Work Group, which meets bi-monthly to prepare for new groups of refugees and to collectively solve any problems that may be emerging. There are a lot of partners! The network is led by the Washington State Refugee Health Coordinator and the primary resettlement agencies (see sidebar for a list). The group also includes medical providers, education and employment specialists and mental health counselors.
Our hope is that they are learning the value of preventive health care, so they use the health care system to stay healthy, so they can work and go to school. This is working toward the resettlement program goal of helping refugees become self-sufficient and contributing members of our society.