Date of Conferral

7-12-2024

Date of Award

July 2024

Degree

Doctor of Human Services (D.H.S.)

School

Human Services

Advisor

Dr. La Toya Johnson

Abstract

East African refugee women arrive as a vulnerable population in their host country. Before coming to the United States, refugee women may have experienced varying levels of trauma due to civil wars, genocide, sexual assault, deaths of loved ones, terrorist attacks, being taken hostage, and torture in their home country. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the experiences of refugee women from East African countries seeking health care in the Central United States when government assistance ends. The framework of the behavioral model of health was the guide for examining the experiences of the participant refugee women. Narrative data were collected from interviews with a purposive convenience sample of 10 immigrant East African women, using Zoom, an online platform, and analyzed for thematic content. The results of this study revealed that the participants had both positive and negative experiences as refugee women seeking health services. The themes that emerged included (a) culture shock, with respect, to living in the United States, (b) issues or problems with learning the language, and (c) continued barriers in their ability to communicate with the healthcare providers to receive the care they needed. This study contributes to positive social change by further illuminating the risk of ineffective language acquisition and unmet health needs negatively impacting the outcomes of the social determinants of health for refugee women.

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