Refugee, Health Education

In responding to the health care concerns and needs of the African newcomer community, Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) has sought to design an approach that combines direct services with culturally sensitive health promotion and health education.  Services include:

 

• Familiarizing newcomers with the roles and services of area healthcare providers and how to access healthcare services;
• Holding cultural competency training sessions for area service providers;
• Providing translation and interpretation services to area health departments;
• Translating health materials into languages spoken by refugee newcomers;
• Conducting a Health Needs Assessment Survey of African-born Residents in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area;
• Conducting HIV/AIDS peer education along with the group and individual outreach interventions;
• Educating newcomers about the harmful effects of smoking and environmental smoke;
• Advocating for clean indoor air policies; and
• Increasing newcomers' knowledge about preventive health and health screenings.

Language assistance: Amharic, Spanish, Tigrinya, Arabic, Bosnian, Italian, Russian, Somali, Zulu, Swahili, and German. Can arrange assistance in French, Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese.