“You Guys Should Offer the Program more Often!”: Some Perspectives from Working Alongside Immigrant and Refugee Families in a Bilingual Family Literacy Program

Anderson, Jim; Anderson, Ann; Friedrich, Nicola; Teichert, Laura

doi:10.1007/978-981-10-2075-9_4

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As of 2016, there were 2.1 million African immigrants living in the United States, making them one of the fastest- growing immigrant populations in the United States (Anderson, 2017). Overall, African immigrants make up 5% of the total population in the United States with much of the population being from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, and Kenya (Anderson, 2017). Although there is a tendency to group African immigrants and refugees together, immigrants differ from refugees based on the nature of their departure from their home countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Refugees, after a year in the United States, may adjust their status to immigrants, but for the purpose of this article, these two groups will be referred to using these distinct categories. Refugees from Africa living within the United States typically originate from Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Eritrea (Anderson, 2017). The health status of African immigrants and refugees varies; however, it is common that African immigrants and refugees arrive to the United States with existing health disparities that are worsened after arrival (Omenka et al, 2020) with refugees experiencing greater disparities likely attributable to traumas that surround forced migration (Ely et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Family Planning Research in African Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Scoping Review

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: African immigrants are a vulnerable population who are seldom seen in the literature, however, the scant research available reports that they experience increased challenges when making family planning decisions. A robust understanding of their specific family planning practices is imperative to providing appropriate, culturally congruent care. Considering this disparity, a scoping review was conducted to synthesize empirical knowledge and identify gaps in the literature around family planning in African immigrant populations in the United States. Methods: Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, EMBASE, Global Health Database, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and PubMed were searched for literature regarding family planning topics such as decision-making and health care access among African immigrant women in the United States in June 2020. Results: The small number of retrieved studies for the literature review clearly highlights a dearth of research. Available evidence indicates stark disparities in health care access, unmet individual needs, and unacknowledged preferences. Discussion: Ignoring cultural considerations for the growing African immigrant population perpetuates the divide in family planning practices.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Family Planning Research in African Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Scoping Review

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…30 Second, while bilingual programs are emerging, most do not build on families' heritage language, a major issue for parents with limited English proficiency. [31][32][33][34] Third, there is a paucity of studies focused on engagement with Latino families from under-resourced communities. 18 By engaging parents as partners throughout the research process and refining the program based on their feedback, we were able to overcome many of these barriers, and reach the intended audience with high attendance levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pilot Randomized Wait-list Controlled Trial of an Online Family Literacy and Wellness Program for Latino Dual Language Learners (Preprint)

Guerrero,

Lakata,

Lima

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND Early childhood interventions can simultaneously promote positive health and early language experiences, but often implementation and equity receive insufficient attention in the development process. OBJECTIVE We applied a health equity lens to refine and pilot test a family literacy and wellness program designed for Latino dual language learners (DLL) entering Kindergarten and their caregivers. METHODS In collaboration with a parent and community advisory board, we refined an 8-week family literacy and wellness program and conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial with wait list control. The program was specifically designed by our interprofessional team for Latino DLLs and uses health topics (i.e., nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and social-emotional development) to (1) introduce foundational language and literacy skills to children, (2) empower families to engage in health and home literacy activities using a strengths-based approach, and (3) encourage maintenance of families’ home language. We assessed reach collecting socio-demographic information, feasibility by measuring attendance, acceptability using a parent survey, and preliminary effects on home literacy activities assessed with a validated parent-report instrument (StimQ2 quantity, quality, content, and concepts subdomains) and child literacy skills using investigator-developed assessments. We analyzed quantitative data using descriptive statistics and regression analyses. RESULTS Parents and community advisors informed program content. Thirty-two parent-child dyads enrolled in the pilot RCT. All parents identified as Latino; 91% reported limited English proficiency; one-fifth had less than 8th grade education, indicating that we reached the intended audience. Parents rated the program as highly acceptable, and 72% of participants attended ≥ half of the sessions. After participation, group 1 had higher scores on StimQ2 quality scores (Effect size (ES) 0.99; p=0.02) and higher quantity scores (ES=1.01; p=0.04) compared to group 2. CONCLUSIONS Similar interprofessional collaborations could be a promising strategy to promote equity in early language experiences for Latino dual language learners and their families. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05339464

show abstract

“…Literacy programs can increase parents' sense of belonging, enhance knowledge of the local school system and curriculum, and improve awareness of opportunities for parent and family involvement (Bassani, 2008). If designed to be affirming of immigrant and refugee families' home language literacy practices, they are theorized as spaces where families draw on the domains of both home and school and can exert agency (Anderson et al, 2011(Anderson et al, , 2017.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behind Successful Refugee Parental Engagement: The Barriers and Challenges

Zaidi

Oliver²,

Strong

et al. 2021

CJE/RCE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This two-year study examined the barriers and challenges encountered by refugee parents as they negotiate their children’s successful transition into a new school system. The researchers sought to determine what can be learned from parent and educator experiences of these obstacles in order to optimize parent–teacher collaboration for refugee families. Contextualized within a LEAD (Literacy, English and Academic Development) program in an urban centre in Western Canada, the study triangulated data from focus groups comprising Syrian and Iraqi Arabic-speaking families, teachers, and settlement workers. The data were qualitatively analyzed by incorporating Epstein’s six types of parental involvement, a culturally responsive model accounting for parental engagement within the context of home-school-community collaboration (Epstein & Sheldon, 2006). From this model, the researchers make recommendations that include province-wide initiatives to support leadership and teacher training, mandated programming to support refugee and immigrant youth, and the establishment and expansion of board and in-school settlement best practices province-wide.

show abstract

“You Guys Should Offer the Program more Often!”: Some Perspectives from Working Alongside Immigrant and Refugee Families in a Bilingual Family Literacy Program

Cited by 9 publications

References 22 publications

Family Planning Research in African Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Scoping Review

Family Planning Research in African Immigrant and Refugee Women: A Scoping Review

A Pilot Randomized Wait-list Controlled Trial of an Online Family Literacy and Wellness Program for Latino Dual Language Learners (Preprint)

Behind Successful Refugee Parental Engagement: The Barriers and Challenges

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About