Improving health literacy in refugee women

What was the project about?

The project was phase one of a three-part project to understand the health information needs of refugee women and how best to provide this information to them.

Funding for this project was provided by the Victorian Women’s Benevolent Trust.

Who did we partner with?

Victorian Refugee Health Network and Foundation House

How did we go about it?

We undertook a series of face-to-face interviews with refugee women community leaders from Afghanistan, Myanmar (Karen community), Iran, Syria, Sierra Leone and Sudan. These women also attended a three hour workshop to discuss the issues they raised in the interviews and fill in gaps in the data. The findings from this consultation process were also discussed at a one hour workshop with experts in the area of refugee health (Foundation House staff).

The women who participated in the project are involved with the Victorian Refugee Health Network and Foundation House as community consultants or bilingual workers and have experience working as cultural advisors. The participants were reimbursed for their participation.

What was achieved?

We obtained valuable first-hand information about the health information needs of refugee communities in Victoria. The participants also provided recommendations and suggestions about how to disseminate this information to their community. 

This information will be used in the development of the second and third stages of the project. Undertaking the remainder of the project will depend on funding availability.

A full report with the findings and recommendations is available here. 

When did we do this project?

June 2014 - July 2015

For more information

Contact Tere Dawson