The Northern Nevada International Center (NNIC) held its second Refugee Health Advocate Program on Monday for volunteers who have knowledge about our healthcare system.
They've been collecting volunteers to help take refugees to and from their healthcare appointments and attend the appointments with them. The goal is for the volunteers to help refugees navigate through the healthcare system.
Volunteers help with anything from translation, filling out paperwork, keeping track of referrals and following up with appointments the client might not be able to understand, or follow up with by themselves due to language or cultural barriers.
NNIC expressed the need in our community is huge.
“Right now we are running into a massive problem of a lot of people needing people to attend appointments with them but not enough people actually getting to go,” said Brandon Denney, the Preferred Communities Program Coordinator for NNIC.
Denney said they see a lot of their clients attending their appointments by themselves, but then being unable to follow up with their healthcare needs after the appointment.
“Everything from insurance, to referrals, to a specialist versus a primary care doctor, these are all new concepts for our clients and often require at least some education and a few practice attempts before our clients really feel comfortable accessing the system on their own,” he said.
Right now, all of their volunteers have been referred through the University of Nevada, Reno. For some volunteers, bridging the gap in healthcare hits home.
“My mom immigrated here from the Philippines and even now I still go with her to her doctors’ appointments because her English sometimes isn’t the best," said Ashton Sharp, a pre-med student at the University. "So I’ve seen firsthand how that language barrier can get in the way, and not to mention all the other things health care there is different from health care here.”
The NNIC has been receiving refugees since 2016, and the need has only grown since the war in Ukraine began.
“We saw a lot of Ukrainian refugee arrivals into Reno and that definitely increased the numbers that we’re dealing with," Denney said.
Through two sessions NNIC has been able to gather 16 volunteers, but they're looking for more.
“I think this would be a great opportunity for anyone regardless of if they're a med student, someone that’s just looking to help out in the community," Sharps said. "I think it’s a great way to extend your boarders and get to know the world from a different perspective.”
To become a volunteer, you can reach out to bdenney@nnic.org or for other NNIC volunteer opportunities you can contact info@nnic.org.
