Refugee and
Immigrant Health
The Office of Refugee and Immigrant
Health and Office of Minority Health have merged to form the Office
of Multicultural Health (OMH). This Office coordinates activities
within the Massachusetts Department
of Public Health (MDPH) to promote the optimal health and well
being of immigrant, refugee and racial and ethnic minority communities
statewide.
Activities
related to refugee and immigrant health include generating
partnerships with newcomer communities, providing technical
assistance around interpreting and translation, enhancing
hospital interpreter services, and gathering and publishing
information on newcomer communities.
Partnerships
with Newcomer Communities
- OMH works
closely with the MDPH Refugee and Immigrant
Health Advisory Committee (RIHAC), whose
members are appointed by the MDPH Commissioner.
The partnership develops and implements
strategies aimed at improving newcomers'
access to health care and health information.
- OMH also
joins forces with MDPH
programs and various organizations
helping refugees and immigrants, including
newcomer agencies and mutual assistance
associations, to address issues around
newcomer communities’ health and
well-being, such as health care benefits,
and community concerns around substance
abuse, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, and
elder services.
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Technical
Assistance around Interpreting and Translation
- OMH coordinates
translation and interpreter services for
all MDPH programs. The office maintains
a comprehensive list of statewide interpreters
and translators available for foreign
language services.
- The OMH
Director is a member of the state Operational Services Division
(OSD) Procurement Teams on Foreign Language
Written Translation and Oral Interpretation
Services, and on Interpretation for the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
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Enhancing
Hospital Interpreter Services
- OMH works
with the MDPH Determination of
Need (DoN) program to improve the
availability and quality of interpreter
services in Massachusetts hospitals.
When hospitals apply to the DoN program
for approval to expand activities, add
new technologies, or change ownership,
MDPH also reviews their provision of interpreter
services. When necessary, MDPH attaches
conditions to approvals requiring hospitals
to improve their interpreter services
and submit annual reports on their progress.
- To help
Massachusetts medical interpreters improve
their performance, OMH
- Regularly
organizes one-day training sessions
on a variety of health topics, such
as substance abuse and compulsive gambling,
sexual assault and domestic violence,
sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS,
etc.
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Gathering
and Publishing Information on Newcomer Communities
Click the
title above to view the report in Adobe
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from the Adobe
website.
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Related
MDPH Programs
The
Refugee and Immigrant Health Program
works to control communicable diseases among
refugees and newly arrived immigrants, to
improve the general health status of the
state's refugee populations, and to increase
access to public health services for newcomers.
The Children's Medical Security Plan is a health
insurance program that provides access to primary care and preventive
services for children and adolescents through age 18.
Healthy Start reduces financial
barriers to early, comprehensive, and continuous prenatal care for
low-income uninsured women.
WIC is a supplemental nutrition program
for women, infants, and children.
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Other
Web Sites of Interest
Disclaimer: Links to non-State or non-Federal organizations
found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users.
These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations
or their programs by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health,
and none should be inferred. MDPH is not responsible for the content
of the Web pages found at these links.
The
Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants
supports a wide variety of programs designed
to promote newcomers' full participation
in the economic, social, and civic life
of the Commonwealth, including the federal
refugee resettlement program.
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee
Advocacy Coalition protects the rights and welfare of immigrant
and refugee communities in Massachusetts through a broad-based network
of community agencies, religious groups, labor unions, human service
organizations, legal service providers and immigrant rights activists.
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
represents low-income people, elders and disabled people working
for basic human needs, to defend against policies and actions that
harm and marginalize people living in poverty, and to advocate for
systemic reforms that achieve social and economic justice
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