ISSP Food for Thought Panel Uncovering Health Disparities among Immigrant Communities during the COVID-19 PandemicThursday, January 28

Rukhsana Ahmed, Ph.D.Associate Professor & ChairDepartment of CommunicationUniversity at Albany, SUNYAdjunct ProfessorDepartment of CommunicationUniversity of Ottawa

§The U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 44.9 million, which was estimated at 13.7% of the U.S. population.

§Whites make up 17% of the foreign-born population, while, Blacks are 10%, and Asians make up 27%. Forty-four percent of the Foreign-born are of Hispanic or Latino origin.

§The share of naturalized citizens is 51.6%, while that of noncitizens is 48.4%.

§There are an estimated 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants.

Background

(Sources: American Community Survey, 2019; Brown, 2019)

Limited English Proficiency leads to:§Low health and digital literacy;§Living in poverty;§Being of working age yet participating in the labor

force at a lower rate than English proficient counterparts

§Lack of health insurance;§ Inadequate access to linguistically and culturally

appropriate services; and§Limited or no access to public assistance

(Sources: Becerra et al., 2017; Hoffman et al., 2014; Perez-Stable & El-Toukhy, 2018; Ross et al., 2020)

Immigrant Vulnerability: Social Determinants of Health and Structural

Barriers

Poor communication and cultural non-concordance in healthcare leads to:

§Lack of access to preventive care;§Poorer Healthcare Experiences §Poorer treatment outcomes §Difficulty obtaining informed consent, malpractice,

negligence, legal liabilities§ Increased healthcare costs

(Sources: Ahmed et al., 2016; Altarriba & Santiago-Rivera, 1994; Commonwealth Fund, 2003; Derose & Baker, 2000; Hale, 2008; Youdelman, 2003

Immigrant Vulnerability: Social Determinants of Health and Structural

Barriers

• Higher exposure and rates of infections, and lower

test rates

• Lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate

information and services

• Susceptibility to misinformation

• Housing and Neighborhood Context

• Documentation Status ]

(Sources: Borjas, 2020; California Department of Social Services. Endale et al., 2020; Ross et al., 2020; Vieira et al., 2020)

COVID-19 Challenges for Immigrants

Unemployment Burden

Foreign-born New Yorkers experienced a disproportionate burden of unemployment and loss of income under COVID-19

(Source: Capps, Batalova, & Gelatt, 2020)

Unemployment Rates January 2020

April 2020

Foreign-Born Women 4.5% 18.0%

Foreign Born Men 3.6% 15.3%

Native Born Women 3.6% 15.3%

Native Born Men 4.3% 12.8%

(Source: American Community Survey, 2019)

§Health Navigators, Community Health Workers and Home Visiting Programs

§Culturally and linguistically competent, trained community workers

§Trusted cultural brokers

(Sources: Martijn et al., 2004; Torres et al., 2014)

Evidence-Based Interventions

§Community Partnerships & Coordination

§Cross-sector collaborations

§The Changing Culture Project

Evidence-Based Interventions

(Sources: Bond et al., 2007; Henize et al., 2015)

§Linguistically and Culturally-Responsive Healthcare Organization

§ Integration of language access models

§Proactive Policies and Programs

Evidence-Based Interventions

(Sources: Dowbor et al., 2015; Marshall et al., 2016; Refki et al., 2015)

§ CO-PIs: Dr. Dina Refki, Department of Public Administration & Policy and Dr. Jeanette Altarriba, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, SUNY

§ University at Albany New York State COVID 19-MHD Initiative on behalf of Governor Andrew Cuomo: Differential Impacts of COVID-19 in New York State: Understanding and Eliminating Minority Health Disparities in a 21st-Century Pandemic

Acknowledgements