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Affiliation
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Immigrant & Refugee Health Center, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 725 Albany Street, Suite 5b, Boston, MA, 02118, USA. Sarah.Kimball@bmc.org. |
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Abstract
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This commentary refers to the article available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01005-6
In their piece, Byhoff et al. tested the acceptability of a social risk screening tool that included patient questions about immigration concerns, administered in a Federally Qualified Health Center, followed by semi-structured interviews with patients. They found that 12% of all patients screened reported an immigration-related health concern, a strikingly high number even within a diverse clinic environment. Patients not only approved of immigration-specific screening, but also that including it improved their healthcare experience. By naming an issue that was of high priority to them, immigration screening was received as, “recognition and acknowledgement of the patients’ lived experience” [1].
This mixed-methods study is an admirable example of research that rapidly responds to unfolding policy changes that threaten the health of immigrants in the US. Often, the search for scientific rigor can hinder our ability to create meaningful research questions that are relevant and timely. If researchers in the field of immigrant health want to be of maximal impact for policy makers, we need to find ways to study and reproducibly measure the effects of policy changes on immigrant patients. Only then can we develop and study interventions that could mitigate negative impacts. For research to be salient, researchers must be swift, responding in real-time to policy changes in the ground.
With so much attention on developing best practices on screening for social determinants of health, immigration-related questions face a challenge. Many providers and researchers are rightfully concerned about the risks of addressing immigration status in the clinical context, fearing that already marginalized immigrants will feel threatened, stigmatized or lose trust in the safety of the medical environment. ...
Language: en |