Tag Archives: refugees

Refugees face special challenges in maintaining oral health

Photo: John M via Flickr

Among the many needs of refugees newly-arrived in the United States, dental care can be a particularly difficult and pressing one to obtain.

Fleeing lives of repression and trauma, some refugees have never had access to routine oral care. Continue reading

Refugees, undocumented immigrants often face ’roundabout care’

Photo: Susan Heavey/AHCJThe Hastings Center’s Nancy Berlinger discussed health issues that refugees and undocumented immigrants face in the United States at a #AHCJ17 panel that included Bassem Chaaban (right) of the Islamic Society of Central Florida.

For Ghassan, a Syrian refugee seeking asylum after arriving in the United States about two years ago, a recent visit to the emergency room was not a choice but a necessity.

Without access to health insurance coverage, the Syrian father who had fled the war there found himself receiving charity care following an accident. Later, problems with his knee again put him on the receiving end of care without coverage. He had worked for 20-some years in Syria, he said, but found it hard to work with his leg pain. Continue reading

#AHCJ17 panels to address importance of social determinants

Health care reporters coming to Health Journalism 2017 in search of story ideas on covering health gaps and the social constructs behind them have a host of panels to choose from while in Orlando.

On the issue of costs, Saturday morning’s session on “Bending the Cost Curve: The Social Determinants of Health” will look at how tackling social determinants of health can help lower costs and improve health, particularly when it comes to health care systems such as hospitals and other networks. Continue reading