Symposium

International

Clinical Practice (assessment, diagnosis, treatment, knowledge translation/EBP, implementation science, program development)

Community-Engaged Refugee Rehabilitation Programming Across the Globe

Friday, November 11, 2022

11:00 AM – 12:15 PM

Presenter(s)

Mary P. Black, MS, OTR/L

Occupational Therapist
Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Rawan AlHeresh, PhD OTR/L

Associate Professor
MGH Institute of Health Professions
Boxford, Massachusetts, United States
CT

Concettina Trimboli

PhD. Candidate, Occupational Therapist and University Lecturer
Curtin University
Bremen, Germany
Mansha Mirza, Phd, OTR/L

Associate Professor
University of Illinois, Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, United States

Slides
YS

Yda J. Smith, PhD, OTR/L

Associate Professor - Lecturer
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Moderator(s)

Monika M. Gross, BFA, mAmSAT, mATI, RSME

Executive Director
The Poise Project
Candler, North Carolina, United States

Forced migration has reached unprecedented levels and is unlikely to reduce given ongoing global conflict. While the majority of people are forcibly displaced to neighboring low- and middle-income countries, high income countries such as the United States and Germany are seeing increased numbers. People who have been forcibly displaced may have experienced or witnessed trauma during pre-migration and are likely to be subjected to systematic barriers, such as lack of access to health care, on entering transition or host countries. This impacts their well-being and participation. As health providers, we can draw on personal factors such as resilience and community participation to facilitate the well-being, occupational opportunities, and health of those who have been displaced. The goal of this symposium is to improve rehabilitation providers’ knowledge and treatment options when working with the displaced through community-engaged rehabilitation programming. This will be achieved by sharing relevant theory and international case studies.

Learning Objectives:

Articulate how experiences of displacement and forced migration affect the rehabilitation needs of refugees and asylum seekers.
Describe the principles of community-engaged rehabilitation and articulate how these principles can be applied to different rehabilitation practice settings with forced migrants
Identify strategies and resources to initiate and sustain meaningful community rehabilitation programs with refugees and asylum seekers