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Community-based participatory research initiative to assess the scope of alcohol use within the community of refugees from Burma in the greater Denver area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

A. Franks*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry
N. Arlas
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Denver, United States
M. Harrison
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Denver, United States
L. Officer
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Denver, United States
B. Fuller
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Denver, United States
D. Le
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Denver, United States
D. Hunt
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Denver, United States
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

For over fifty years, minorities in Burma have faced severe persecution and violence, forcing them to flee their homeland. In the past ten years there has been an influx in the number of refugees resettled in Denver, Colorado. Refugees often struggle to navigate the complexities of the American health care system and adapt to life in a foreign culture. The development of programs and partnerships to assist refugees in their pursuit of health and integration is essential to building stronger communities.

Objectives

This community based participatory research (CBPR) project was developed in collaboration with the refugee community from Burma living in the Denver area. After regular meetings with a group of motivated teenagers and young adults from this community to form our Youth Advisory Board (YAB), they identified alcohol use and misuse as a health concern within their community. With this identified issue, the project aimed to gather data from community members that could be leveraged to create, implement, and evaluate a culturally competent intervention to effectively address risky alcohol use in this community.

Methods

Data collection involved formal one-on-one, semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews with community members. Participants were recruited voluntarily at health information nights held by the student researchers at their local apartment complex. The interviews were conducted by one medical student researcher with one translator present and were transcribed afterward. The interview data was analyzed using Immersion Crystallization methodology.

Results

Initial results from the community meetings with the YAB, local organizations, formative community surveys, and key informant interviews highlighted the vulnerability of the refugee population, scarcity of culturally appropriate resources for alcohol abuse, and urgency of addressing problematic alcohol use. The analysis of the ten audio-recorded surveys showed several themes including negative consequences of alcohol use, specifically negative impacts on familial relationships, employment, and financial resources, and a perceived personal responsibility for managing one’s own alcohol consumption.

Conclusions

This project corroborates current literature regarding the scope and breadth of hazardous alcohol use within the community of refugees from Burma. Our data has expanded our understanding of the values of community members including the influence of religion and family on behaviors, and the negative impact on employment as the most impactful negative consequence. These findings need to be shared with the community to move forward in mapping the most effective and appropriate interventions.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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