The theme for World Refugee Day 2021 was ‘together we heal, learn and shine’ (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2021). This World Refugee Day stressed the importance of expanding ...refugees’ access to health services. The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan on Promoting the Health of Refugees and Migrants, 2019–2023 has created a ‘framework of priorities and guiding principles…to promote the health of refugees and migrants’ (World Health Organization, 2019). The Action Plan includes policies that promote short- and long-term public health interventions and advocates for integrating migrant and refugee health into global, regional and country agendas and advancing refugee-sensitive and migrant-sensitive health policies. As nurses, we respond to World Refugee Day and National Immigrant Heritage Month with a call to action focusing on clinical care, advocacy, equity and justice.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Aims and Objectives
To examine the feasibility of a culturally tailored education programme for Haitian immigrants diagnosed with hypertension.
Background
Hypertension is a major public health ...problem, impacting more than 26% of the global population. The overall prevalence of hypertension is 45.4% in the United States with nearly 80,000 deaths due to hypertension in 2015. African Americans and other Black populations living in the U.S. are disproportionally affected by hypertension.
Design
Pre‐test and post‐test feasibility study.
Methods
A convenience sample of forty‐four participants who identified as Haitian immigrants was enrolled in this evidence‐based education programme. The intervention included culturally tailored education focused on improving knowledge, medication adherence and blood pressure. Outcomes were measured using the Hill‐Bone Medication Adherence Scale and Hypertension Knowledge Test. The SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines were used for reporting outcomes.
Results
Of the participants that completed the study (N=42), the mean age was 61.95 (± 9.75) years and 59% were female. Baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 143 (±18.15) and 85 (±7.23), respectively. Six weeks after the intervention, there was a significant decrease in mean systolic, 126 (±12.07) and diastolic 78.50 (± 7.23) blood pressures. An increase in medication adherence and hypertension knowledge was also noted at the six‐week follow‐up period.
Conclusion
The feasibility of healthcare provider implementation of a culturally tailored intervention to manage hypertension has been demonstrated. However, future research is warranted to gain a more in‐depth understanding of how to approach hypertension management among Haitians and other Black immigrant communities.
Relevance to clinical practice
Advanced practice nurses are uniquely qualified to implement evidence‐based programmes that improve patient knowledge and adherence to hypertension management. Through tailoring and adopting an evidence‐based methods for educating patients about medication adherence and adequate blood pressure management, there is a potential to see improvements in patient outcomes.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
This International Nurses Day, we honour and acknowledge the work of nurses everywhere during this pandemic, and share our vision for a future with far more equitable distribution of health ...resources. As nurses, we believe in equality of healthcare for all people and that every person deserves to have a healthy life. Now more than ever, it is crucial that we continue to critique and challenge the systemic issues and the policies that contribute to health inequity, and we must do this locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Nurses are the largest group of health professionals in the world and we have the collective strength to enable more equitable and fairer health systems for all people everywhere.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Background
Cardiometabolic risk (CMR) factors including hypertension, overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia are high among United States ethnic minorities, and the immigrant ...population continues to burgeon.
Methods and Results
Hypothesizing that acculturation (length of residence) would be associated with a higher prevalence of CMR factors, the authors analyzed data on 54, 984 US immigrants in the 2010–2014 National Health Interview Surveys. The main predictor was length of residence. The outcomes were hypertension, overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. The authors used multivariable logistic regression to examine the association between length of US residence and these CMR factors.
The mean (SE) age of the patients was 43 (0.12) years and half were women. Participants residing in the United States for ≥10 years were more likely to have health insurance than those with <10 years of residence (70% versus 54%, P<0.001). After adjusting for region of birth, poverty income ratio, age, and sex, immigrants residing in the United States for ≥10 years were more likely to be overweight/obese (odds ratio OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.10–1.29), diabetic (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.17–1.73), and hypertensive (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.05–1.32) than those residing in the United States for <10 years.
Conclusions
In an ethnically diverse sample of US immigrants, acculturation was associated with CMR factors. Culturally tailored public health strategies should be developed in US immigrant populations to reduce CMR.
As clinicians delivering health care, we are very good at treating disease but often not as good at treating the person. The focus of our attention has been on the specific physical condition rather ...than the patient as a whole. Less attention has been given to psychological health and how that can contribute to physical health and disease. However, there is now an increasing appreciation of how psychological health can contribute not only in a negative way to cardiovascular disease (CVD) but also in a positive way to better cardiovascular health and reduced cardiovascular risk. This American Heart Association scientific statement was commissioned to evaluate, synthesize, and summarize for the health care community knowledge to date on the relationship between psychological health and cardiovascular health and disease and to suggest simple steps to screen for, and ultimately improve, the psychological health of patients with and at risk for CVD. Based on current study data, the following statements can be made: There are good data showing clear associations between psychological health and CVD and risk; there is increasing evidence that psychological health may be causally linked to biological processes and behaviors that contribute to and cause CVD; the preponderance of data suggest that interventions to improve psychological health can have a beneficial impact on cardiovascular health; simple screening measures can be used by health care providers for patients with or at risk for CVD to assess psychological health status; and consideration of psychological health is advisable in the evaluation and management of patients with or at risk for CVD.
Background Racial/ethnic minorities, especially non-Hispanic blacks, in the United States are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. However, less is known about the prevalence of ...cardiovascular disease risk factors among ethnic sub-populations of blacks such as African immigrants residing in the United States. This study's objective was to compare the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among African immigrants and African Americans in the United States. Methods and Results We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the 2010 to 2016 National Health Interview Surveys and included adults who were black and African-born (African immigrants) and black and US-born (African Americans). We compared the age-standardized prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, overweight/obesity, hypercholesterolemia, physical inactivity, and current smoking by sex between African immigrants and African Americans using the 2010 census data as the standard. We included 29 094 participants (1345 African immigrants and 27 749 African Americans). In comparison with African Americans, African immigrants were more likely to be younger, educated, and employed but were less likely to be insured (
<0.05). African immigrants, regardless of sex, had lower age-standardized hypertension (22% versus 32%), diabetes mellitus (7% versus 10%), overweight/obesity (61% versus 70%), high cholesterol (4% versus 5%), and current smoking (4% versus 19%) prevalence than African Americans. Conclusions The age-standardized prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors was generally lower in African immigrants than African Americans, although both populations are highly heterogeneous. Data on blacks in the United States. should be disaggregated by ethnicity and country of origin to inform public health strategies to reduce health disparities.
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