Publications

Discrimination is detrimental to health. Little is known about perceived discrimination among Somali immigrants. We examined whether age or proportion of lifetime in the United States was associated with perceived discrimination among Somali immigrants. Guided by Intersectionality, we described a secondary analysis of Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) survey data from the Healthy Immigrant Community study. Younger participants ( ≤40 years) experienced more discrimination than older participants ( >40 years). Higher education, being male, and earning $20,000-$39,999 was associated with more perceived discrimination. These findings suggest that Somali immigrants who are younger, more formally educated, male, and/or earn $20,000-$39,000 report more discrimination than their counterparts. Possible explanations include exposure to discrimination outside the Somali community or more awareness about racism. Alternatively, the EDS may not capture the discrimination experienced by Somali women or older adults. Further research is needed to address the discrimination experienced by Somali immigrants

Evidence-based health promotion programs are commonly assessed within research environments, yet there is a critical need to understand how to implement interventions across multiple settings, prioritizing populations who are underserved and under-resourced. A possible approach involves leveraging established social networks to enhance health outcomes. Within these networks, influential individuals, known as health promoters (HPs), play a key role in disseminating health information. The Rochester Healthy Community Partnership created a social network–based intervention called Healthy Immigrant Community (HIC), utilizing HPs to encourage healthy eating and physical activity to address cardiovascular disease outcomes among Hispanic/Latino and Somali immigrant populations. We conducted three focus groups pre-, mid-, and post intervention (nine groups total; n = 30) to understand HPs’ motivations for participating, implementation barriers and facilitators they faced, and suggestions for improvement.

The rates of obesity among immigrant populations within the USA rise with increasing duration of residency. The aims of this study were to examine weight self-perception and body image discrepancy within a large community sample of Hispanic and Somali predominantly immigrant adults.

Hispanic/Latinx individuals have high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its complications yet often face barriers in accessing diabetes prevention and self-managemenet interventions. One possible approach is to implement digital storytelling interventions, which involve narrative-driven videos made by individuals who have lived experience with particular conditions or illnesses. These stories can inspire viewers with similar life experiences to change behaviors or attitudes. Little is known about which characteristics influence how individuals respond to digital storytelling interventions with healthful behaviors and improved outcomes - information necessary to further tailor these interventions to improve type 2 diabetes outcomes. Previously, the Rochester Healthy Community Partnership used the digital storytelling process to develop Stories for Change Diabetes and tested intervention effectiveness.