Working with immigrant and refugee populations: Issues and Hmong case study

There is a critical need to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate health information for immigrant and refugee populations. This article discusses the challenges related to providing health information for im-migrants and refugees in the context of developing health education/ health literacy programs. It includes lessons learned from National Library of Medicine (NLM)–funded health information programs in Wisconsin, particularly the Hmong health projects funded by the NLM Specialized Information Services Division. Topics include special needs of immigrant and refugee populations; health care for immigrants and refugees; identify-ing and working with partner organizations; examples of successful efforts; and finding funding sources for health information literacy projects. For immigrants and refugees, finding useful health information is just one piece of the huge task of adapting and surviving in a new country. We need to “walk in their shoes ” and listen to their stories before rushing into solutions based on our personal worldview of libraries and the World Wide Web as free sources of knowledge on a wide variety of topics, including health and disease. While we know that we need to take the time to learn about cultures other than our own, there is an immediate need to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate health information for immigrant populations. National standards require that most health care providers provide culturally and linguistically appropriate patient information. Thos