Serving Refugees and Recent Immigrants through Nutrition Workshops

As a health educator, serving with the National Health Corps has been a chance to engage patients in both one-on-one and group settings to manage their health well. When it comes to providing health education for refugee patients, new factors such as language barriers, cultural differences, and adjusting to the foods available at local American stores can add extra challenges during conversation. On top of this, many refugees are preliterate, meaning that they cannot currently read in their native language. When I referred my first few refugee patients for nutrition counseling, it became clear that a lot of the topics and ways I went about discussing food or offering resources with other patients did not click as well. So it was time to get creative!

Finding images of foods from the different countries refugees came from allowed me to make cards with brief descriptions and pictures that explained what these meals consisted of. During patient visits, the cards proved handy for anyone who could not read but would be able to point out which foods they liked to make the most, and I could refer to the notes to understand the nutritional value. These “food cards” were also useful when Eva (another Tapestry NHC member) and I began doing community workshops. Pictures opened conversations with the clients that attended and allowed these events to inspire memories from home as we talked about food. While serving with preliterate populations might seem daunting, these encounters prove that creativity allows for ways around possible barriers in order to build relationships with recent immigrant populations. No challenge needs to be seen as insurmountable. Instead, the problems that came up during this year of service have proven to be the best opportunities for impactful engagement in the community. Don’t be afraid to dive in—obstacles might just end up being the avenue that allows a year of service to be meaningful.