The world is currently facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that is causing millions of people to move due to wars and violence widespread in their countries of origin. It puts in evidence the urgent need to develop actions that alleviate the pain of these people and promotes social justice within our society. The migratory movements caused, and entail a series of psychological repercussions, social, cultural, and economic struggles for these refugees.
This program aims to serve 35% of the North Central and Eastern Florida refugee and migrant populations available through access to the Department of Children and Families. Successful educational activities that, with a universal and transferable nature, allow us to identify strategies that contribute to overcoming inequalities and promote social cohesion in disadvantaged multicultural contexts can be articulated in two ways: inclusion strategies and participation of families and other community agents in the teaching and learning processes. The nonprofit organization Gators for Refugee Medical Relief has been assisting refugees and migrants in the Northern Florida area for over three years. This organization, launched by the University of Florida students, uses a multidisciplinary approach and incorporates health and legal professionals throughout the Gainesville community to improve the personal wellbeing of resettled refugees and migrants.
Trauma-informed principles our program will focus on promoting are mutual collaboration and the empowerment of the vulnerable communities we serve. This will be ensured through workshops and educational pieces of training based on the need’s assessment and self-reported interests of the refugees and migrants.
Our framework will address the model mainly at the individual and relationship levels based on the CDC's Social-Ecological Model. At the individual level, this proposal seeks to reduce harm and violence amongst the refugee community through personal wellbeing and academic development activities. On the relationship level, every workshop and activity will include a hands-on component that incorporates team building and direct mentorship in the care of our volunteers.
For this particular program, the preventative framework is a combination of both primary and secondary prevention stages. The primary framework provides parental and authority figures within the migrant and refugee communities with the appropriate tools for approaching their children and themselves so as to avoid further traumatic strain. As a secondary piece, the initial health assessments families undergo and their subsequent enrollment in programs of interest will provide the necessary awareness for understanding their unmet needs and trauma (Fandino, 2020).
Sources:
Executive Board decision 140(9) on promoting the health of refugees and migrants. In: Seventieth World Health Assembly, Geneva, 17 May 2017. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017 (A70/24; http://www.who.int/migrants/ne...vents/A70_24-en.pdf, accessed 12 April 2018).
Global estimates on migrant workers. Geneva: International Labour Organization; 2015 (http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/grou...lic/---dgreports/--- dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_436343.pdf, accessed 12 April 2018).
Social determinants of migrant health. Geneva: International Organization for Migration; 2018 (https://www.iom.int/social-det...ants-migrant-health, accessed 12 April 2018).
Fandino, V. (2020). Educational and Health Literacy Programs for Refugee and Migrant Populations. Gainesville, FL.
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