Addressing Health Disparities Through Effective Interventions Among Immigrant Populations (R01/R21)
Program Description
The Immigrant Health Initiative was established to design and implement effective interventions to address the underlying impact of the immigration process and thereby to reduce health disparities among immigrant populations and promote health equity. Some diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and some types of cancers, are more prevalent among some immigrants and not in others than among the general U.S.-born population. Risk and protective factors for disease differ within and across immigrant populations at least in part due to the immigration experience. This initiative aims to build an evidence base for effective interventions that address risk and resilience within immigrant populations.
The complexity of the experience of immigration demands an interdisciplinary approach based on a well-developed intervention research framework that reflects current understanding of social, environmental, biological, and behavioral determinants of health (for an example see NIMHD Research Framework). Interventions that address multiple domains and levels of influence through the life course are encouraged. Multi-level/multi-domain life course targeted interventions have been shown to more effectively address challenges experienced by immigrant groups and are more likely to be sustainable in improving health outcomes and are solicited in this initiative.
