Care Facilitation
• Article on access to care among aging populations. Available here: 2014 Hurdles as Asians American age Thanks to Karen James for sharing.

• Update on Burmese pilot project being conducted by CDC. Available here: Burmese Pilot Update Dec 2013 From Association of Refugee Health Coordinators.

• Upcoming Webinar on Substance Abuse and Torture Survivors on Wednesday, February 26th at 1pm. Sign up for updates from the National Partnership for Community Training for updates: http://gulfcoastjewishfamilyandcommunityservices.org/refugee/

Partnership and Training
• Updated Congolese backgrounder now available: http://www.culturalorientation.net/learning/populations/congolese-refugees

• Webinar recording on medical case processing overseas now available and slides attached: https://www.cubby.com/pl/Instant+meeting+2014-01-30.webm/_2f2f8469a2ad4f1c92ed1b68f0362bed From Association of Refugee Health Coordinators.

Best Practices
• Call for abstracts and registration for the North American Refugee Health Conference now open: http://centerforrefugeehealth.com/. The conference will be held in Rochester, NY from June 19 – 21.

• Updates on Pre-Departure Medical Screening and EDN. Available here:PDMS EDN update Jan 14_final From Association of Refugee Health Coordinators.

Advocacy
• New Resources available related to guidance on immigrants and ACA: (Thanks to Morgan Leafe for sharing)
https://www.healthcare.gov/help/citizenship-and-immigration-status-questions/
https://www.healthcare.gov/help/immigration-status-questions/
https://www.healthcare.gov/help/immigration-document-types/
https://www.healthcare.gov/what-do-immigrant-families-need-to-know/

• Suicide Feedback: ORR is in the process of mandating reporting of refugee suidices. Please see the proposed data collection here. ORR is in the process of establishing a systematic method of reporting suicides and suicide attempts among refugee communities. As part of that process, our data collection tool, the Refugee Suicide Report Form, must go through the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) clearance to obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The link to proposed collection activity in the Federal Register is here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-12-26/html/2013-30809.htm. Per directions in the Federal Register, please send any comments to infocollection@acf.hhs.gov by February 24; all requests should be identified by the title of the information collection (Refugee Suicide Report Form, OMB No.: 0970-NEW). From Association of Refugee Health Coordinators.

Care Facilitation
The Philadelphia Partnership for Resilience has created a screening guide for primary care physicians to assist in identifying torture survivors who may be in need of additional services. The guide is available here: http://philarefugeehealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Screening-Immigrant-and-Refugee-Patients-for-Torture-Histories.pdf The PPR referral form is also available here: http://philarefugeehealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SofT-Referral-Form-Revised.pdf

Partnership and Training
Gulf Coast Refugee Services held a second webinar focused on Congolese Refugees. The on-line version of the webinar and copies of the slides are available here: http://gulfcoastjewishfamilyandcommunityservices.org/refugee/2013/12/13/strengthening-the-congolese-community-background-resettlement-and-treatment/#more-1202600

Best Practices
PRHC’s own Dr. Marc Altshuler and Dr. Kevin Scott recently contributed to a Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center publication on refugees and obesity. See the full article here: http://refugeehealthta.org/physical-mental-health/health-conditions/chronic-conditions/obesity/?utm_source=December+Newsletter+2013&utm_campaign=Dec+Newsletter+2013&utm_medium=email

The Cultural Orientation Resource Center has recently published a full orientation curriculum for newly arrived refugees. It includes a section on Health and Hygiene. The curriculum is available here: http://www.culturalorientation.net/providing-orientation/toolkit/r-p-orientation-curriculum

Access-Focused Advocacy
The Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center continues to update their resources related to the Affordable Care Act. Their website includes videos and handouts: http://refugeehealthta.org/access-to-care/affordable-care-act/resources-for-providers-and-refugees/

Care Facilitation
I. Overseas Vaccination Pilot Project: CDC recently published an update to the Migration Overseas Refugee Pilot Vaccination Project that CDC has implemented in conjunction with PRM and IOM. Briefly, this project provides an expanded list of vaccinations (DTP, hep B, Hib, MMR, OPV/IPV, and Td) pre-departure to refugees from the following countries: Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The main updates to this document pertain to:
a. Timing of the project rollout: Malaysia and Kenya recently began implementation in September 2013, and Ethiopia began implementation in November 2013
b.Hib vaccine is now being given in all 5 countries.

II. Overseas Intestinal Parasite Guidelines: Overseas Intestinal Parasite Guidelines have been posted on the CDC website. They went live November 5th. Please find the guidelines at this link: http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/guidelines/overseas/intestinal-parasites-overseas.html

Partnership and Training
I. Webinar on Serving Congolese Communities: NPCT is offering a webinar titled “Strengthing the Congolese Community: Background Resettlement and Treatment on Wednesday, December 11th. Register here: http://gulfcoastjewishfamilyandcommunityservices.org/refugee/2013/11/21/national-partnership-for-community-training-presents-strengthening-the-congolese-community-background-resettlement-and-treatment/

II. Refugees in Local Media:
a. One Book, One Philadelphia: http://articles.philly.com/2013-10-24/news/43327495_1_the-yellow-birds-john-bartle-iraqi-refugees
b. News-works Article: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/philadelphia/62006-iraqi-refugees-find-support-from-fellows-and-neighbors-in-northeast-philadelphia

Access-Focused Advocacy
I. Affordable Care Act Training: NSC in partnership with SEAMAAC has offered several sessions to refugee communities on the Affordable Care Act. The PowerPoint used for these trainings is attached. NSC and HIAS are both Certified Application Counselor sites to assist individuals in applying for coverage under the ACA.

The PRHC is featured in the 2012 Winter Edition of the Philadlephia Social Innovations Journal. Read more about this special edition of the journal focused on partnerships and mergers here:

Read the article about the collaborative here:

Rainbow Welcome Initiative is a program at NSC providing intensive case management and monthly community social outings for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender refugees and asylees. Rainbow Welcome Initiative is funded by a grant through Heartland Alliance based in Chicago, IL. NSC was selected to receive this grant for the second-year in a row, one of only five agencies in the country to have the funding to implement this program. NSC is working to make systemic changes at the agency to further NSC’s journey into becoming fully LGBT-inclusive. NSC is available to provide in-service trainings to your agency if you would like to learn how to be more culturally competent when working with LGBT refugees and asylees. This training will include general education on LGBT issues, education on refugee and asylee issues, unique concerns to the LGBT refugee and asylee community, and steps that your agency can take to be more inclusive. The training can also be tailored to your agency’s specific needs. Please contact Juliane Ramic at jramic@nscphila.org or (215)893-8400 x1538 with any questions.

Tips for Medical Providers

Rainbow Welcome Referral Form

Philadelphia has recently been awarded Office of Refugee Resettlement Funding to serve survivors of torture. A collaborative of partners including NSC, LCFS and HIAS will serve 120 refugee, asylee and asylum seekers annually. To refer a client, please contact Kerenza Reid at kreid@nscphila.org with the referral form found here: Referral Form

See more information about programs funded nationally here: ORR Services for Survivors of Torture

Here are helpful links for agencies and clinics serving refugees in Philadephia:

Contacting Your Insurance Company

What to do If You Recieve a Bill From a Doctor

Dental Clinics

Since 2011, refugees living in South Philadelphia have been connecting with their new community through urban farming. See this WHYY story on the “Growing Home” garden:

Read the full WHYY story

Philly.com post on fruit distribution

You can also visit the blog for the Growing Home project to learn more about what is happening on the farm, and how you can get involved.
http://nscfarming.wordpress.com/

On Dec. 6, President Obama issued a presidential memorandum directing the first-ever U.S. government strategy dedicated to combating human-rights abuses against LGBT people abroad. On the same day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke in Geneva about the need to protect LGBT people. “In many ways, they are an invisible minority,” she said. “They are arrested, beaten, terrorized, even executed.”

Finding the freedom to be LGBT – Philly.com

Philly.com has posted an interesting article about some of the work the Philadelphia Refugee Mental Health Collaborative is doing with Bhutanese refugees and art therapy.

Refugees find solace in photos