UNMC students to provide health screenings to refugees

Bridge to Care, a student-led interprofessional organization at UNMC focused on refugee health, will conduct a health fair at Omaha’s second annual World Refugee Day on June 24.

The free event, sponsored by the Omaha Refugee Task Force, is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. Bridge to Care, a co-sponsor of the event, is supported by the Center for Reducing Health Disparities in the College of Public Health.

The health fair will feature 22 community vendors and will provide health education, screenings and service to an expected 400-500 refugees from the Sudanese, Somali, Karen and Bhutanese communities. EMPOWER, another UNMC student-led organization, also will participate. It works to minimize domestic and sexual violence in the community.

Bridge to Care and EMPOWER are two of the four Legacy projects supported by the Office of Community Engagement within Academic Affairs.

Free services will include:

• vision testing;
• dental care;
• Body Mass Index (BMI);
• blood pressure testing;
• lead testing; and
• glucose level screenings.

Information will be provided on:

• nutrition;
• Medicaid services;
• dental hygiene;
• physician-patient communication; and
• other topics.

Contributing health services for refugees will be:

• Creighton Family Medicine Residency Clinic;
• Creighton University Dental;
• One World;
• Charles Drew;
• North Omaha Area Health Clinic;
• United Health Care;
• Douglas County Health Department; and
• Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

Refugee Day also will feature a naturalization ceremony, art activities, education panels, gallery exploration, cultural performances, fashion show and an awards ceremony.

In the past decade, refugees have resettled in Omaha from Sudan, Southern Sudan, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, Liberia, Somalia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Burma and Bhutan.

Culturally appropriate food pantry donations — cornmeal, cooking oil, spices, sugar, flour and yeast, for example — are welcome.

Others involved in the event include:

• Akkase Home Health Care;
• Cargill;
• CoventryCares of Nebraska;
• Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services;
• International Center of the Heartland;
• Joslyn Art Museum;
• Lutheran Family Services;
• Nebraska Methodist College;
• Omaha Public Library;
• Nebraska Office of Health Disparities & Health Equity;
• Omaha Public Schools;
• Refugee Empowerment Center;
• Omaha Schools Foundation;
• Tyson; and
• United Healthcare Community Plan.

Bridge to Care will offer volunteers a refugee cultural orientation with Pam Franks, founder and executive director of Embrace the Nations. Franks will present from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on June 17, in UNMC College of Public Health, Room 3013. For more information, contact Lauren Cirrincione or Dr. Toure.