Empowering the Karenni Community by Amplifying and Enriching Karenni-Provider Connections.
- Tay Moe
- May 17, 2024
- 1 min read
Project Title: Empowering the Karenni Community by Amplifying and Enriching Karenni-Provider Connections
Timeline:
January 2024 - May 2024
Team Members:
Htay Meh, Dr. Ana (Nikka) Sucaldito, Dr. Shannon Morrison, Andrew Young
Project Goals:
To increase connectedness between the Karenni community of Winston-Salem and health and social service providers
To facilitate increased provider awareness of, outreach to, and creation of culturally competent care for the Karenni
To improve Karenni Community knowledge of and access to needed resources and health services
Project Activities:
Lunch and Learn: Based on the needs and preferences of the community, health and social service providers (e.g., health professionals, school district officials, local government workers, etc.) were invited to a 2-hour lunch and learn (LnL) to increase their cultural competency regarding the Karenni people. While enjoying a traditional Karenni meal, a Karenni presenter taught them about history of the Karenni people, their journey to Winston-Salem and their life in NC, their culture, and community-specific barriers and facilitators to receiving care. After the presentation, they participated in small group discussions, guided by empowerment theory, to discuss their new knowledge and create action plans to make their practices more accessible and connected to the Karenni. Continuing education credit will be provided to interested participants.
Health Fair: The community health fair was a one-day event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. bringing providers and the Karenni community together. In April 2023, the community implemented the first Karenni health fair in Winston-Salem. The community enjoyed the event and has asked for another health fair, as they never had one in Myanmar, let alone that was culturally tailored for them. The health fair provided access to resources and services for the Karenni while raising provider awareness about the community. The providers will be recruited through existing and new connections (including through the LnL), based on the needs of the community.
Methodology And Analysis:
To measure provider outcomes, the empowerment theory based small group discussions held during the LnL will be recorded and qualitatively analyzed; LnL participants will be given a short quantitative survey assessing change in knowledge about the Karenni, willingness to connect, and planned actionable steps to increase access to their services. Participation of LnL attendees as vendors in the health fair will also be assessed. Lastly, all health fair vendor participants will be sent a post-fair survey to assess their change in knowledge, willingness to connect, and planned actionable steps.
To assess health fair impact on Karenni community connectedness to providers, we will assess health fair participant satisfaction, perceived likelihood of future use, and number of new services learned. At the beginning of the fair, participants will be given a health fair “passport,” which vendors will stamp after speaking to the participant about their service. Participants will be asked submit their health fair passport at the end of the event, which will be used to measure how many total provider booths they visited. Additionally, they will be asked short questions about event satisfaction, perceived likelihood of accessing services in the next six months, and how many new services they learned about. Participants who answer the survey questions and turn in their health fair passports will be entered into a drawing to receive a raffle prize.
Results:
Lunch and Learn:
32 attendees (Primary care, Pediatrics, Family and community medicine, Government, Educational/school district staff, Non-profits, Social workers, Community members)
Four Areas of Action
Connection of health services and community
Exemplar: Use pediatric providers to connect parents to primary care
Educational Systems
Exemplar: Amend processes for identifying language and mental health needs for students and families
Arts
Exemplar: Provide a tour of the local arts council for Karenni artists
Funding
Exemplar: Leverage already collected Karenni health data as pilot data for non-profit and government grants
Health Fair
18 vendors
110 adult attendees and 20 teens/children
25 volunteers to assist as interpreters, front check-in, hand out H20 and snacks, guards
71 patients received screenings
The average participant: Visited 5 booths and Learned about 7 new services
Passport Turned In:
Adults: 75
Children: 18
Total: 93 (72.66%)
4.7/5 participant satisfaction
88% had learned something new
64% reported they were likely to use one of the services in 6 months
BSEAH Workshop 2024:
Empowering the Karenni Community by Amplifying and Enriching Karenni-Provider Connections abstract (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) was accepted and presented as one of the panelists during the Bringing Southeast Asia Home (BSEAH) Workshop at UNC-Chapel Hill
Click on the button to access the BSEAH Workshop 2024
Acknowledgments:
Thank you to the Bringing Southeast Asia Home Initiative, the UNC Asian American Center, and the UNC Carolina Asia Center. Special thank you to all the vendors, volunteers, and attendees who made this project possible.
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