Forming A Sustainable Partnership For Improving Refugee Resettlement: The University of Utah Honors College Global Health Scholars Refugee Partnership Ashlie Gilbert; Katherine Hobbs; Simran Kaur; Dwight Parker; Sierra Trejos; Brad Weaver; Dr. Stephen Alder

Background Global Health Scholars (GHS) ~20 undergraduate students Strive to engage and implement sustainable global health practices at home and abroad Refugee Services Office (RSO) State agency Created to support and serve refugees resettling in Utah Oversees and coordinates all other resettlement agencies and programs in Utah Refugee Population In Utah RSO estimates 25,000 refugees in Utah – Majority from Somalia, Sudan, and Iraq 99% in Salt Lake Valley Significant challenges faced during resettlement

The GHS/RSO Partnership Community Engaged Scholarship Partnership Aims: – equitable collaboration between community members, institutional, and academic partners – Address challenges in a context of respect and appreciation – Provide guidance and direction to improve the resettlement process – Empower community leaders – Help individual refugee families during resettlement

Results and Conclusions Results - The Partnership in Practice – The University of Utah Volunteers Scholarly Model Liaisons between refugee community and RSO – The Refugee Services Office Trains members of GHS Coordinates and connects families and GHS members – The Refugee Community Allow students into their homes Gain community advocates Gain additional resettlement resources Conclusions – Benefits the University as well as the resettled refugee community – Formation of a Reproducible Model

Community: The Forgotten Discipline in Multidisciplinary Global Health Isabella Alder, Annah Frisch, Morgan Gallegos, Rosalie Griffin, Harjit Kaur, Kajsa Vlasic, Elysia Yuen, Rose Zagal, Dr. Stephen Alder

Objective Our purpose is to show that the community needs to be in concert with the other disciplines at the global health table. To successfully work toward a common goal, the community must become an equal collaborator.

Effective global health practice requires a multidisciplinary approach

Global Health Experience Through our experience in the classroom and abroad, we have witnessed the benefits of utilizing the community as a discipline in global health Ghana India Peru Salt Lake City, Utah

Discussion From our experience working in Peru, Ghana, India and Salt Lake City we have found that the community is an essential component of successful global health work. Although the global health model continuously evolves with every project and every community, there needs to be a paradigm shift in the mentality of global health: the community needs to be an integral and equal partner.

Global Health Philosophies Bridger Bach; Christopher Orlando; Nancy-Ann Little; Jason Chen; Amy Dursteler; Micheal Young; Dr. Steve Alder Historical approach – Focus on delivering services/donations – No concern for local capacity CBPR&P represents an alternative: Sustainability Community as a Unit Builds on Strengths and Resources Collaborative and Equitable Partnership Co-learning and Capacity Building Mutual Benefits to Partners Local Relevance Systems Development Community Based Participatory Research

Methods Global Health Scholars – Provided with opportunities to participate in global health projects – Trained to make critical assessments Retrospective Study – Asked global health scholars to reflect on their experiences – Evaluate level of community-engagement and its effect on project outcomes

Experiences Limited community engagement – Honduras (Bridger Bach) – Armenia (Chris Orlando) Local partnerships – Peru (Katie Hobbs) – India (Chris Orlando) Long-term collaborative relationships – Ghana (Kajsa Vlasic)

Results Limited-community engagement – May produce some results more quickly, but health improvements are unsustainable – Does not promote and may undermine local capacity to improve and maintain health Strong foundation of community engagement – Facilitate communication with target communities – Deepens understanding of local health status and determinants – Enhanced ability to collect data, disseminate information, and implement projects – Work continues between visits – Can produce scalable models that can be implemented on national level