Article type
Abstract
"Background: Gaps in knowledge, lack of trust in the healthcare system, and poor access to healthcare services have been mentioned as barriers to the immunization of the refugees and migrant populations. Therefore, identifying the factors that improve the understanding of health recommendations could enhance adherence to the health guidelines and facilitate the decision-making process in these vulnerable populations. Community leaders from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have an important civil society role in supporting the dissemination of new knowledge in refugee, immigrant, and other migrant (RIM) communities.
Objectives: This project aimed to develop an educational framework to guide community leaders. We used the example of translating plain-language COVID-19 vaccine recommendations from the eCOVID RecMap to address vaccine hesitancy.
Methods: A multi-method approach was taken to develop an educational framework for community leaders conveying new health recommendations, including those for vaccines. A team of experts along with community-based researchers collaborated to identify principles and competencies for community leaders to help convey new COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. This emerging framework was developed based on a literature review on the role of community leaders, a systematic scoping review on vaccine hesitancy, and consensus-based team meetings.
Results: The education framework consists of values and principles including multilingualism and higher health-related education. It identifies six core competencies with communication and leadership as crucial components. Potential predictors for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy include mistrust in authorities, perceived vaccine safety and efficacy, vaccine development, risk perception, and gaps in knowledge. The framework recognizes the importance of community leaders as information intermediaries and outlines approaches to support them in engaging members of their communities through shared culture, language, and trust.
Conclusions: For the next phase of the project, this educational framework helped us to construct a network of internationally trained health professionals (ITHPs) who will join the network as community leaders with the aim of mobilizing knowledge (i.e., increasing awareness, sharing knowledge, informing decision-making, achieving practice change, and improving health outcomes) of CAN-PCC recommendations, by codesigning and adapting the most useful recommendations and health information, to culturally and linguistically isolated communities in Canada, such as refugees and immigrants.
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Objectives: This project aimed to develop an educational framework to guide community leaders. We used the example of translating plain-language COVID-19 vaccine recommendations from the eCOVID RecMap to address vaccine hesitancy.
Methods: A multi-method approach was taken to develop an educational framework for community leaders conveying new health recommendations, including those for vaccines. A team of experts along with community-based researchers collaborated to identify principles and competencies for community leaders to help convey new COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. This emerging framework was developed based on a literature review on the role of community leaders, a systematic scoping review on vaccine hesitancy, and consensus-based team meetings.
Results: The education framework consists of values and principles including multilingualism and higher health-related education. It identifies six core competencies with communication and leadership as crucial components. Potential predictors for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy include mistrust in authorities, perceived vaccine safety and efficacy, vaccine development, risk perception, and gaps in knowledge. The framework recognizes the importance of community leaders as information intermediaries and outlines approaches to support them in engaging members of their communities through shared culture, language, and trust.
Conclusions: For the next phase of the project, this educational framework helped us to construct a network of internationally trained health professionals (ITHPs) who will join the network as community leaders with the aim of mobilizing knowledge (i.e., increasing awareness, sharing knowledge, informing decision-making, achieving practice change, and improving health outcomes) of CAN-PCC recommendations, by codesigning and adapting the most useful recommendations and health information, to culturally and linguistically isolated communities in Canada, such as refugees and immigrants.
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