Title: The Health of Russian-Speaking Immigrants (In Milwaukee): A Very Brief Introduction
Name: Maren Hawkins
Primary Presenters: Maren Hawkins and Lydia Marcus
Zilber School of Public Health
Research Doctorate (PhD)
Faculty Sponsor(s): Dr. Lance Weinhardt, Dr. Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu
Of the millions of Russian-speaking immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in the United States (US), several thousand reside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.1–3 In addition to making rich contributions to the community, Russian-speaking immigrants contend with health issues,4 complicated by language concerns,5,6 and a relationship with the United States healthcare system influenced by contextual factors from the FSU.2,7–9 Our presentation is a topical introduction, not the results of an analytic study. Moreover, our presentation is shaped by a community-based public health approach, as a Russian-speaking immigrant living in Milwaukee is one of our co-presenters. Regarding our translation methods, Maren first transcribed, translated, and back-translated into Russian, and asked Olya clarifying questions. The translation was also reviewed by two UWM faculty members. For the quantitative portion, Lydia calculated descriptive statistics and conducted simple logistic regression using NHIS Data from 2000-2018 in STATA 16.0. She restricted the data to the Midwest/North-central US and compared adult female participants who immigrated from the FSU (n=417) to those who were born in the US (n=172,534). The statistically significant results (p<0.5) showed that women from the FSU had 1.54x odds of reporting good health compared to US-born women, and 1.63x the odds of reported fair/poor health compared to US-born women. Moreover, women from the FSU had 0.42x the odds of being diagnosed with diabetes compared to US-born women. Yet, women from the FSU had 0.29x the odds of reporting a usual place for medical care, suggesting that women from the FSU may have more undiagnosed conditions. This is reinforced by Olya, who comments that immigrants from the FSU face challenges accessing medical care. This presentation is not a summary of one study, rather we strive to reinforce the importance of historical, sociopolitical, and contextual factors among those we work as students in health schools.
https://sites.uwm.edu/healthresearchsymposium/files/formidable/2/UWMHRSRusCitations.docx
Nice video on an important topic!
Informative snapshot of data and personal experience. The music is a nice touch.
This is very interesting! I think it’s important to consider issues like this on a more local level, because specific community needs can vary so drastically
Good introduction to this issue, and some of the challenges faced by Russian immigrants.
Understanding how to provide culturally-sensitive care to immigrant groups, such as the Russian speakers in your study, is such an important topic. Thank you for your work on this!
This is a great presentation! I found the subject very interesting!
This is a great presentation about an important topic! Great job!
It was a fun video!