Faculty Mentor: Reena Tam (Pediatrics, University of Utah)

Abstract

Fundamental to each refugee’s story of migration is a story of trauma. Refugees experience trauma related to war and persecution in their home country, during exile from their homeland, and resettlement in a new country. The United States has become a new home for many refugees, and since 1998, 25,869 refugees have resettled in Utah specifically (Utah Department of Health and Human Services 2024).

Refugee families only have one option for pediatric emergency care in the Intermountain West: Primary Children’s Hospital (PCH). As more refugees arrive in Utah, it is vital that healthcare providers in all settings, including the emergency department, are culturally informed about changing patient demographics. Currently, there are no educational programs dedicated to teaching culturally informed care for pediatric emergency providers at PCH. As a result, a gap in understanding develops between healthcare providers and refugee patients leading to worse healthcare outcomes.

This IRB-approved study aims to gather insights from a pediatric emergency healthcare team and families of pediatric refugee patients at PCH to understand facilitators and barriers to care in the pediatric emergency department (pED). Since August of 2024, in-depth interviews(IDIs) with physicians, care managers, and nurses, followed by focus-group discussions(FGDs) with refugee families, have been conducted. IDIs and FGDs are recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using applied thematic analysis. Two independent coders will analyze data for salient themes, with discrepancies resolved by consensus. Data analysis will be performed through Dedoose software and initial results will be produced by January, 2025.

To our knowledge, we are the first to gather perspectives of refugee families seeking care in a pED in the United States. The impact of this study is to create insights into the nuanced needs of refugee families and propose solutions, such as educational resources for healthcare professionals, to improve refugee health outcomes.

Reference

Utah Department of Health and Human Services, (2024). Number of Refugee Arrivals By Age Group, Utah, 2015-2023. Public Health Indicator Based Information System (IBIS). Retrieved from:https://ibis.utah.gov/ibisph-view/indicator/complete_profile/RefArr.html