Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)
Refugee Health Promotion & Disease
Prevention Initiative
ORR has implemented the "Points of Wellness - Partnering for Refugee Health and Wellbeing Initiative (POWI)" which is a health promotion and disease prevention program to assist organizations concerned with the well-being of refugees. The philosophy of the initiative is to help develop and implement health promotion and disease prevention activities and programs within, and specifically tailored to, refugee communities.
This initiative is a collaborative effort among the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Refugee Mental Health Program, and the Office of Global Health Affairs. This initiative does not include a new discretionary grant program, nor will it redirect funds from existing grant programs. As such, it is neither a program nor a series of programs. POWI is an approach to health and mental health that aims to increase awareness and interest in health promotion and disease prevention programs targeting refugees. The goal is to provide information and tools to assist organizations in related activities and services. The overall objective of this initiative is to increase the health and well-being of high risk refugee populations in the United States by:
- Providing technical assistance on how to develop, fund, manage and implement health promotion and disease prevention programs.
- Encouraging the development and implementation of community mental health-public health modalities of improving or maintaining good physical and mental health.
- Supporting systems of care that promote good physical and mental health in an integrated seamless way.
- Contributing to an overall reduction of unmanaged chronic health conditions.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
- The Initiative developed a Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Toolkit for use by Ethnic-based organizations (particularly Mutual Assistance Associations) and other faith-based and community organizations who are concerned with the well-being of refugees. The toolkit includes guidelines for developing and implementing community health programs. The toolkit is available on this website.
- Implementation of a Listserv for sharing refugee health information and updates. To access the Listserv go to http://list.nih.gov, click on Browse and then look for REFUGEEHEALTH. There you find archived messages and directions for subscribing.
KEY CONTACTS:
For further information, please contact one of the Key Points of Wellness representatives:
Ms. Marta Brenden, Project Director, ORR.
202-205-3589. mbrenden@acf.hhs.gov
Captain John Tuskan, Director, Refugee Mental Health Program, SAMHSA.
240-276-1845 john.tuskan@samhsa.hhs.gov
Dr. David B. Smith, Director, Humanitarian and Refugee Health Affairs, OGHA.
301-443-6279 davidb.smith@hhs.gov
