Pilot Wellness Program With Adapted Social-Emotional Learning and COVID-19 Curriculum for Refugee Youth.
Health Educ Behav
; 49(1): 17-25, 2022 02.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1463167
ABSTRACT
Refugee children are less likely than their non-refugee peers to receive timely diagnoses and treatment for mental and/or behavioral health problems, despite facing multiple risk factors including potential exposure to trauma during premigration, migration, and postmigration experiences. Social-Emotional Learning offers preventive mental health education for children through well-established, evidenced-based curricula. Although there are clear benefits of Social-Emotional Learning curricula, which can help children achieve long-term success emotionally and academically, Social-Emotional Learning curricula are not easily accessible for refugee children, often because of language and socioeconomic barriers. In this pilot study, we evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of an adapted Social-Emotional Learning program that included culturally specific, multilingual, trauma-informed wellness, and physical education during the COVID-19 pandemic EMPOWER (Emotions Program Outside the Clinic With Wellness Education for Refugees). We used the Intervention Mapping framework which guided the (1) planning, (2) program development, and (3) mixed-method evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of the EMPOWER pilot. We found that this adaptation was well-received by Afghan refugee families and that COVID-19 safety measures were well-understood after participation. Challenges emerged around videoconferencing connectivity and around finding a common language for discussing emotions. Future iterations of the program and evaluations will require continued partnerships with community members and organizations. As we continue and expand EMPOWER, we aim to evaluate short-term improvement in Social-Emotional Learning competence as well as long-term mental and behavioral health outcomes for children and their families.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Refugees
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Health Educ Behav
Journal subject:
Behavioral Sciences
/
Education
/
Public Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
10901981211048830
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