Exploring Immigrant Health Through Social Work and Geography
In a recent episode of the HPP Podcast, a podcast of the Health Promotion Practice peer-reviewed journal, my colleague, Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez (Associate Professor of Social Work and Human Services at Kennesaw State University) and I discuss our recent work (in partnership with Dr. Jessica Hill) about immigrant health through the lenses of social work and geography. HPP Podcast Season 2, Episode 26, is entitled, “Exploring Immigrant Health Through the Lenses of Social Work and Geography with Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and Dr. Paul McDaniel.”
The Atlanta-based community-engaged, university-community partnership, research — along with our incorporation of graduate and undergraduate student researchers in our work — we discuss in the podcast stems from our peer-reviewed article, “A Scoping Review of Literature About Mental Health and Well-Being Among Immigrant Communities in the United States,” published in 2020 in Health Promotion Practice; our peer-reviewed article, “Immigration status as a health care barrier in the USA during COVID-19,” published in 2021 in Journal of Migration and Health; our ongoing work with the Georgia Immigration Research Network; and our articles published in Boston University School of Public Health’s Public Health Post: “Immigration Status as a Social Determinant of Health during COVID-19,” “Immigrant Health is Public Health,” and “Immigration Integration.”
Description of HPP Podcast Season 2, Episode 26, “Exploring Immigrant Health Through the Lenses of Social Work and Geography with Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and Dr. Paul McDaniel,” hosted by Arden Castle: “In this episode, Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and Dr. Paul McDaniel discuss their interdisciplinary partnership and longstanding work in immigrant health. They explain their micro/meso/macro approach that mirrors the social ecological model, as well as the importance of mentorship through research. They also mention developing the Georgia Immigration Research Network. This episode references the article titled ‘A Scoping Review of Literature About Mental Health and Well-Being Among Immigrant Communities in the United States’ by Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez, PhD, MSW, MPA, Jessica Hill, MPH, and Paul N. McDaniel, PhD.”
Abstract for “A Scoping Review of Literature About Mental Health and Well-Being Among Immigrant Communities in the United States” in Health Promotion Practice: “Immigration — both the experience of migrating and events after migration — can affect the mental health and well-being of immigrants and their communities. However, evidence suggests that immigrants in the United States do not access mental health services to the same extent as nonimmigrants. In particular, immigrant adolescents and young adults may have unique stressors related to their developmental stage, experiences in school and with peer groups, and shifting roles within family systems. This scoping review summarizes findings from published research studies and practitioner-focused gray literature about the mental health needs of immigrant communities in the United States. The review finds that specific mental health needs vary across factors like age, racial/ethnic group, immigration status, and place of residency. Findings also indicate that structural factors like immigration-related laws affect both access to mental health services and stressors in the overall environment for immigrants and their families. This review also explores models of community-level initiatives that utilize strengths-based approaches to promoting mental health and well-being among immigrant communities. Findings highlight the need for a better understanding of the mental health needs and current barriers to care among diverse immigrant populations, as immigration continues to play a major role in U.S. public policy and discourse. The COVID-19 pandemic taking place as this article goes to press in 2020 also raises questions regarding health equity and access for marginalized populations, including immigrants and their communities, and so these findings also indicate the need for further interdisciplinary research to assess intersections among the pandemic’s many impacts, including those related to mental health and well-being.”
Abstract for “Immigration Status as a Health Care Barrier in the USA During COVID-19” in Journal of Migration and Health: “In the context of the United States of America (U.S.), COVID-19 has influenced migrant experiences in a variety of ways, including the government’s use of public health orders to prevent migration into the country and the risk of immigrants contracting COVID-19 while in detention centers. However, this paper focuses on barriers that immigrants of diverse statuses living in the U.S. — along with their families — may face in accessing health services during the pandemic, as well as implications of these barriers for COVID-19 prevention and response efforts. We report findings from a scoping review about immigration status as a social determinant of health and discuss ways that immigration status can impede access to health care across levels of the social ecology. We then develop a conceptual outline to explore how changes to federal immigration policies and COVID-19 federal relief efforts implemented in 2020 may have created additional barriers to health care for immigrants and their families. Improving health care access for immigrant populations in the U.S. requires interventions at all levels of the social ecology and across various social determinants of health, both in response to COVID-19 and to strengthen health systems more broadly.”
Listen to Season 2, Episode 26, “Exploring Immigrant Health Through the Lenses of Social Work and Geography with Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and Dr. Paul McDaniel,” of the HPP Podcast, here.
