Community Interagency Connections for Immigrant Worker Health Interventions, King County, Washington State, 2012–2013

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Personal Author:
  Tsai, Jenny H. ; Petrescu-Prahova, Miruna
• Description:
  Introduction: Cross-sector community partnerships are a potentially powerful strategy to address population health problems, including health disparities. US immigrants - commonly employed in low-wage jobs that pose high risks to their health - experience such disparities because of hazardous exposures in the workplace. Hazardous exposures contribute to chronic health problems and complicate disease management. Moreover, prevention strategies such as worksite wellness programs are not effective for low-wage immigrant groups. The purpose of this article was to describe an innovative application of social network analysis to characterize interagency connections and knowledge needed to design and deliver a comprehensive community-based chronic disease prevention program for immigrant workers. Methods: Using iterative sample expansion, we identified 42 agencies representing diverse community sectors (service agencies, faith-based organizations, unions, nonprofits, government agencies) pertinent to the health of Chinese immigrant workers. To capture data on shared information, resources, and services as well as organizational characteristics, we jointly interviewed 2 representatives from each agency. We used social network analysis to describe interagency network structure and the positions of agencies within the networks. Results: Agency interconnections were established primarily for information sharing. In the overall interagency network, a few service-oriented agencies held central or gatekeeper positions. Strong interconnectedness occurred predominately across service, public, and nonprofit sectors. The Chinese and Pan-Asian service sectors showed the strongest interconnectedness. Conclusion: Network analysis yields critical understanding of community structural links and assets needed to inform decisions about actual and potential community collaborations. Alternative intervention strategies may be needed to address health disparities among immigrant workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Community Networks Cross-Sectional Studies Emigrants And Immigrants Emigration And Immigration Environmental Exposure Government Agencies Healthcare Disparities Health Promotion Health Services Needs And Demand Health Services Research Health Status Disparities Humans Interinstitutional Relations Minority Health Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Organizations, Nonprofit Race Factors Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Workplace

  More +
• Keywords:
  Immigrant workers; Health disparities; Exposure levels; Risk factors; Hazards; Workers; Work environment; Diseases; Disease prevention; Sociological factors; Sociology; Health care; Racial factors; Minority health
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis 2016 Jun; 13:160013
• Series:
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd13.160013
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  27253636
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4894722
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  R21 OH009955/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  10 pdf pages
• Volume:
  13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050302
• Contact Point Address:
  Jenny H. Tsai, PhD, ARNP, PMHCNS-BC, University of Washington School of Nursing, Department of Psychosocial and Community Health, Box 357263, Seattle, WA 98195-7263
• Email:
  ude.notgnihsaw.u@tynnej
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9c731b9939f84648d51b44baeb1e65e2dc088eccfbc0ab45de1b65ca2d6f75be86b1f60cda74e8b0eb71ba477544e961d9173fc38cd3436a59a86c5e4693e53a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/39955/cdc_39955_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 369.04 KB ]