Reproductive Health Equity in Afghan and Syrian newcomers through digital health literacy

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Abstract Sacramento County, California, is one of the counties with the largest arrivals of Arabic-speaking refugees and Afghan and Iraqi special immigrant visa holders (SIVs) in the nation. Post-resettlement unemployment and poverty, poor English skills, socioeconomic pressures, cultural differences, lack of familiarity with preventive services, and inability to navigate the maze of the US health care system pose substantial barriers to refugee access to needed reproductive health (RH) care leading to disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes and to higher cervical cancer rates. An important factor to achieve health equity for refugees and SIVs is access to accurate and understandable information on sexual and reproductive health needs and services. In this 3-year study. With expert and outreach support from the Digital Scholarship Services of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the Sacramento Public Library, the California's Refugee Reproductive Health Network (ReproNet) will leverage its solidly established regional academic – refugee community partnerships to enhance Afghan and Arab refugee women's knowledge and access to accurate and linguistically appropriate RH information. Key ReproNet partners in this study will be the University of California, Davis and Muslim American Society Social Services Foundation (MAS-SSF). In this project, ReproNet will aim to: (1) Create a publicly-available digital repository of multilingual reproductive health resources (Dari, Pashto, Arabic) for Afghan and Arab refugee populations. Links to the materials of the repository will be posted on ReproNet’s social media pages and channels. The repository will be housed at the UCI DSS which will also maintain and store the resource materials beyond the project period. (2) Enhance Afghan and Arab refugee’s reproductive health literacy (RHL) in California through 12 in-person training sessions with the Sacramento Public Library and MAS-SSF (3 each in Dari, Pashto, Arabic and English) and 12 on-line training sessions offered via zoom or Facebook and (3) Increase the capacity of refugee providers to integrate reproductive health literacy in their programs. We will evaluate the project through google analytics, session evaluations, and pre- and post RHL and provider training assessments. An enhanced literacy and access to digital health information and library resources nationwide will strengthen refugee women’s capacity to obtain, process, and understand the basic RH health information needed to make optimal health decisions for themselves and their families.