Description
The Latino/Hispanic immigrant and Somali refugee population has grown at a rapid rate in the United States. At first, Latino/Hispanic immigrants and Somali refugees are healthier than their native counterpart, but their health advantages disappear over time and are more likely to suffer worse health outcomes compared to whites. Differences in cultural practices and a history of discriminatory health care in the United States negatively affect immigrant and refugee health. Research has shown that the use of culturally competent patient navigators (PNs) has the potential to improve health outcomes by eliminating barriers to timely health screenings, diagnosis, treatment and providing supportive care to reduce morbidity and mortality related to chronic diseases. This study uses data from Project Concern International's Family Health Navigator Resource Center (FHNRC) Project. Using PNs, the FHNRC aimed to improve the health outcomes for individuals with cancer, diabetes, obesity and hypertension with specific emphasis on health disparity populations in San Diego County. The study examines whether the PN program resulted in significant changes in participant's BMI, weekly hours exercised and daily servings of fruit and vegetables consumed following completion of the program. Using the Social Network Framework, the study also examined the influence of social support from patient navigators on participant's health and health behaviors among a sample of Latino/Hispanic and Somali refugee adults enrolled in the FHNRC program for obesity and/or diabetes (n=60). A McNemar's test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and a paired sample T-test were used to determine whether baseline and post-intervention differences existed for the variables (1) weekly hours exercised (2) daily servings of fruit and vegetables consumed (3) and BMI. Multiple linear regression models were used to determine whether the social support covariates were significantly associated with the differences found between baseline and post-intervention scores for BMI and daily servings of fruit and vegetable consumed. Lastly, a mixed logistic regression model was used to determine whether social support covariates were associated with the change found from baseline to post-intervention weekly hours exercised. Results demonstrated there was a significant decrease from baseline to post-intervention scores regarding BMI and a significant increase from baseline to post-intervention scores regarding weekly hours exercised and daily servings of fruit and vegetables consumed. Number of encounters was found to only be significantly associated with the change in baseline and post-intervention scores regarding weekly hours exercised. Findings support evidence that culturally competent PNs are associated with improvements in health behaviors and health outcomes, but further research is needed to understand the roles of social support and the use of PNs to influence positive behavior and health outcome change.
