Refugee and Migrant Health

Thursdays 12:00 – 1:00PM

12 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ available

Data from the Illinois Policy Institute (2024) indicate that there were nearly 113,000 new Illinois residents attributed to international migration in July 2023-June 2024. As noted by the World Health Organization (2025), migrant and refugee populations have a diverse set of health needs that span communicable and noncommunicable diseases, food- and waterborne diseases, injuries, unwanted pregnancy, and trauma. Additionally, they may seek forensic health evaluations to support their case for asylum. Forensic health evaluations are critical for assessing and documenting the physical and psychological impact of trauma experienced by people seeking refuge and protection in a new country. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of health professionals available to conduct these evaluations. Last year, the Midwest Human Rights Consortium (MHRC) was only able to fulfill 50% of the requests it received for psychological forensic mental health evaluations. Many clinicians lack formal training and/or experience in the nuances of providing care to refugee and migrant populations.  This can result in hesitancy to take on these patients. The goal of this ECHO series is to build the capacity of primary care providers to deliver high-quality, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed care to refugee and migrant populations in Illinois.

Topics for Case-Based Learning and Discussion Include:

• Immunizations and vaccination gaps
• Chronic conditions
• Infectious diseases
• Nutrition
• Reproductive health
• Forensic evaluations
• Trauma-Informed approaches – best practices for interviewing asylum seekers
• Cultural considerations
• Combined medical and psychological evaluations
• Writing medico-legal affidavits and testifying as an expert witness
• Ethical considerations including self-care for evaluators
• Special populations: children and adolescents and LGBTQ+
• Remote evaluations
• Support services