View this as a webpage

The Minnesota Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health (COE) is dedicated to developing tools to support health care providers, public health professionals, and resettlement partners in their efforts to better serve immigrant and refugee families. We build on existing infrastructure and partners’ extensive experience to identify and monitor newcomer health issues and needs, contribute to evidence-based policies and guidance, and ultimately improve continuity of care and health outcomes for newcomers.

• Ukrainian Vaccination Guidance
• Immigrant Health Matters
• Newcomer Health Training
• Contact

Ukrainian Vaccination Guidance

The COE recently finalized Vaccination Coverage and Record Translation Guidance for Health Care Providers Serving Ukrainian Newcomers (PDF). The document includes:

• Differences between U.S. & Ukrainian childhood immunization schedules
• How to approach review of overseas vaccination records
• Resources pertaining to vaccine communication in Ukrainian 
• Ukrainian vaccination record samples provided by community partners

Additional vaccination resources are available at Ukrainian Clinical Guidance: Vaccination.

Immigrant Health Matters

Immigrant Health Matters is a quarterly series of brief vignettes focused on immigrant health and health equity. Articles are designed to be read in three minutes and to provide an immigrant’s perspective of challenges in achieving health equity.

Health equity is generally defined as a state in which every person can achieve their highest possible level of health. Each article presents a scenario, provides background on related concepts, and discusses action steps for providers and organizations caring for immigrants.

Check out the second edition of Immigrant Health Matters: Clinical care of immigrants!

Newcomer Health Training

Center of Excellence Recorded Webinars

Open the "Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees: Tuberculosis" or "Afghan Arrivals: Pre- and post-natal care" dropdowns on Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health: 2022 Webinars to access the recordings, slides, flyers, evaluation surveys, and CME/CEU request form. 

Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees: Tuberculosis
Recorded on Dec. 1, 2022

Moderator and presenters

• Nadya Sabuwala, MS, MPH, RN, PHN (she/her)
  TB Nurse Consultant, Minnesota Department of Health STD/HIV/TB
• Neela Goswami, MD, MPH (she/her)
  Medical Officer, Field Services Branch, Division of TB Elimination, CDC
• Alfred Lardizabal, MD (he/him)
  Executive Director, Global Tuberculosis Institute, Rutgers University, New Jersey

Learning objectives

• Describe the epidemiology of tuberculosis in Ukraine.
• Review LTBI and TB disease workup and management.
• Identify two to three tuberculosis-related technical assistance resources.

Afghan Arrivals: Pre- and post-natal care
Recorded on Oct. 12, 2022

Moderator and presenters

• Lily Rubenstein, RN, PHN (she/her)
  Refugee health nurse consultant, Minnesota Department of Health Refugee Health Program
• Soma Yousafi, RN, MD (she/her)
  Pre-Post Natal Facilitator, International Rescue Committee (IRC)
• Shoshana Aleinikoff, MD (she/her)
  Specialty Director of Refugee and Immigrant Health; HealthPoint, a community health center network in WA

Learning objectives

• Describe two to three traditional Afghan practices before, during, and after pregnancy and explain variation among Afghan practices.
• List three challenges that Afghan newcomers face post-arrival that can impact pregnancy care and outcomes.
• Name two practices that have been successful in supporting Afghan newcomers during and after pregnancy at a system level and two practices at a provider or case worker level.

ECHO Colorado Newcomer Health Series

In partnership with ECHO Colorado, the Minnesota Center of Excellence will be hosting a monthly training on newcomer health between October 25, 2022, and November 28, 2023. This ECHO series is designed to increase medical providers' knowledge of the resettlement and health issues of newcomers, including refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) populations. It will review resettlement pathways, evidence-based screening recommendations, and more common diagnoses and treatment approaches for pediatric and adult populations.

Sessions include brief didactic presentations by immigrant health experts and discussion of participant-submitted cases. Participants are highly encouraged to submit de-identified patient cases for group discussion and expert consultation.

Sign up for the ongoing monthly ECHO sessions held virtually
ECHO Colorado: Newcomer Health
Last Tuesday of the month 9 a.m. ET | 8 a.m. CT | 7 a.m. MT | 6 a.m. PT

Upcoming sessions

• January 31: Ukrainian Health Considerations
• February 28: Vaccinations
• March 28: Tuberculosis

Registration is ongoing and participants can attend any sessions they wish.

Print or download a one-page promotional flyer: ECHO Colorado: Newcomer Health (PDF).

You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to MDH's COE or CareRef updates, Refugee and International Health Quarterly, or you have attended a past training. Please subscribe now if you are not already subscribed to Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health Updates and wish to receive future editions.

The Minnesota Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health will send updates about refugee health screening guidance, best practices, CareRef, and training events. 

Contact

For more information or questions, please contact the Minnesota Department of Health Refugee and International Health Program at refugeehealth@state.mn.us or 651-201-5414.

The Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health is supported by NU50CK000563 (MN) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.