Building Immigration-Informed, Cross-Sector Coalitions: Findings from the Los Angeles County Health Equity for Immigrants Summit

Abstract

In December 2017, the Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs and Board of Supervisors, alongside local health care and legal providers, convened the Health Equity for Immigrants and Families Summit to advance a vision for immigrant health. We describe the four critical concepts identified by stakeholders to address the varied needs of immigrants in an increasingly anti-immigrant political environment: (1) Recognizing immigration status as a modifiable social determinant of health; (2) Adopting the concept of ''Immigration-Informed Care'' within health care institutions; (3) Establishing immigration-focused medical-legal partnerships; and (4) Building coordinated systems based on knowledge of local stakeholders, policies, and funding mechanisms.

A southwestern grassroots community coalition of undocumented Mexican community members: A location for bridging resources and sociopolitical action

“…Grassroots community coalitions are spaces where people with multiple intersecting identities and locations can come together and confront issues that affect and disempower the larger community collective (Enriquez, 2014). Research examining grassroots community coalitions highlights that these are versatile locations for leveraging resources, developing strategic partnerships, and transferring, as well as bridging resources in marginalized, segregated, financially‐strapped communities (Christens & Speer, 2015; Christens et al, 2019; Lardier et al, 2018; Saadi et al, 2019). Coalition‐based work, particularly for undocumented Hispanic/Latinx communities, creates space for individuals to develop and find meaning and ways to change the social circumstances that oppresses them (Chávez, 2011; Enriquez, 2014; Lardier et al, 2020).…”

“…| 1661 marginalized, segregated, financially-strapped communities (Christens & Speer, 2015;Christens et al, 2019;Lardier et al, 2018;Saadi et al, 2019). Coalition-based work, particularly for undocumented Hispanic/Latinx communities, creates space for individuals to develop and find meaning and ways to change the social circumstances that oppresses them (Chávez, 2011;Enriquez, 2014;Lardier et al, 2020).…”

“…Most importantly, this liberating process centers on the “power to do,” bringing to the forefront the need for action‐oriented approaches to social change driven by the voices of the community members, themselves (Christens & Speer, 2015; Gutiérrez et al, 1995). Furthermore, there is evidence that community coalitions represent a unique venue for not only developing strategic partnerships, but (co)facilitating the transfer or bridging of resources in marginalized, segregated, financially‐strapped communities (Christens & Speer, 2015; Christens et al, 2019; Gates, 2017; Lardier et al, 2018; Saadi et al, 2019).…”

Associations between memory loss and trauma in US asylum seekers: A retrospective review of medico-legal affidavits

“…Our study highlights that asylum-seekers with PTSD or depression may be particularly vulnerable to these memory complaints and therefore represent a subset of the asylum-seeker population for whom memory issues need to be more closely assessed and attended to. Outside the legal context, clinicians should work towards promoting trauma-informed and immigration-informed models of care addressing trauma and associated cognitive complaints in their clinical work with this population [31]. There are also important distinctions that future, ideally prospective, research can elucidate upon, such as disentangling the diverse processes that underlie the relationship between traumatic events and memory gaps like dissociative amnesia or dissociation during a trauma that were alluded to in our qualitative analyses [32].…”

Editorial: Improving Mental Health for Immigrant Populations

“…Addressing immigrant mental health must be done on both macro (structural/systems) and micro (personal/interpersonal) levels. Research has suggested that culturally-tailored and trauma-informed mental health training for diverse stakeholders can reduce negative effects associated with immigration and improve the adaptation experience in the settlement country (3,4). One study in the Research Topic examined the psychological effects of asylum interviews for asylum-seekers, which has a detrimental psychological impact on refugees.…”