Preliminary Results of a Life History Interview Project with Central American Migrants to Improve Understanding of Health Needs and Guide Future Research

Speaker:  Dr Mark Edberg, George Washington University
Date: Tuesday, 01 October 2019
Location:  Sumner School, 1201 17th St NW, Washington, DC
Time: 7:00 pm
Pre-meeting gathering:  5:30  (see details below; RSVP is helpful but not required)

About the talk:

WAPA’s first meeting of the 2019-2020 year will feature a presentation by Dr Mark Edberg of the Milken Institute School of Public Health, at The George Washington University.  Dr Edberg will discuss his stDespite the current political environment, continued efforts are and will remain necessary to address the public health consequences of migration to the U.S., where the migration experience should be framed as a continuum that includes at least three domains – home country circumstances, migration through geographic space, and adjusting to/coping with relocation in the U.S. setting. The cumulative health impacts of migration have been discussed recently in work by Heide Castaneda, Yonina Fleischman, Sara Willen, and Seth Holmes, among others. This paper reinforces and amplifies these concerns, outlining preliminary results from 75 ethnographic life-history interviews with Central American immigrants in a Latino community near Washington, DC that covered the above three domains, as well as data from a survey among immigrant youth in the same community that provides additional evidence on the prevalence and effects of trauma among this population – especially among the recent wave of unaccompanied youth. These experiences include violence, kidnapping, imprisonment, family reunification conflict, and discrimination, among others. Dr. Edberg discusses these trauma and other experiences as they articulate with the complexities and context surrounding migration, and the need for access to services in the face of hostile politics.udy testing a framework to understand potential health determinants for Central American and other migrants, particularly factors contributing to trauma, so as to understand needs and target services.  More details to follow.

About the speaker:

Mark Edberg, PhD, MA, is Associate Professor in the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, with secondary appointments in the Department of Anthropology and Elliott School of International Affairs. Dr. Edberg, a cultural anthropologist, has more than 25 years’ experience in social and community research and interventions focusing on public health/social development (domestic and global), and he has been working with several immigrant communities in the Washington, DC area for a number of years, including a 14-year relationship with the primarily Latino immigrant community of Langley Park, MD. He directs the Avance Center for the Advancement of Immigrant/Refugee Health, and the global-oriented Center for Social Well-Being and Development (CSWD), both which are bridges between an academic setting and applied work. Current/recent Avance Center efforts have included the Adelante youth intervention, the Water Up diabetes prevention effort. And a life history interview project with Central American migrants (focus of presentation). Previous efforts (in Langley Park) have addressed youth violence prevention and partner violence research. CSWD projects thus far have primarily been collaborations with UNICEF in Belize, South Africa, Indonesia, Ghana, and Jamaica.

ASL interpretation: Contact Suzanne Heurtin-Roberts at least 48 hours prior to the event if you require ASL interpretation or other accommodation for this event.

Before the meeting:  Join the speakers for dinner or snacks from 5:30  - 6:45 pm at the Edgar Bar and Kitchen, Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC (3 minute walk to Sumner School).

Location:  The Sumner School is located at the corner of 17th St and M St NW.  From the Farragut North Metro Station (Red Line), exit onto L St, proceed one block east to 17th St, turn left, then head 2 blocks north.  The entrance to the meeting area is on 17th St through the double doors under the black metal stairway.  Registration is NOT required to attend the meeting, but picture ID Is required for entry to the building.