The Centretown Community Health Centre has received nearly $800,000 from the province to screen immigrants who are at high risk for diabetes and to provide cultural sensitivity training for health-care providers.
The new initiative, called the SCREEN project, will target immigrants from communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia, known to be at a higher risk for the disease, says Pierre Boulay, regional director of the Champlain Diabetes Regional Co-ordination Centre, which serves Ottawa as well as Cornwall, Rockland, Pembroke and Petawawa.
Recent studies have shown that certain immigrant populations are two to four times more likely to get diabetes than those born in Canada, says Boulay. This, combined with the increase in the number of immigrants in Ottawa, is what prompted the creation of the project, he says.
From now on, the SCREEN project will organize diabetes-screening clinics for specific populations once or twice per year, he says.
The first event on Oct. 26, the same day Ottawa Centre Liberal MPP Yasir Naqvi announced the funding, targeted the Latin American community by providing Spanish-speaking healthcare workers, Boulay says. About 90 patients attended the clinic.
The next clinic, on Nov. 10, will serve the Somali population. Dates in late November and December will provide services for Punjabi and Nepalese immigrants.
The SCREEN project identified these communities specifically by using a model called Projenesis, which was developed in London, Ont. to educate healthcare workers about providing diabetes care for high-risk ethnic groups, says Naqvi.
The SCREEN project aims to break down cultural barriers that stop immigrants from having their diabetes diagnosed and treated, says Naqvi. There are two main barriers – language, and a lack of knowledge about preventing the disease, he says.
Immigrants who don’t speak English fluently may struggle to describe their symptoms, which prevents them from getting treatment.
Also, some patients coming from less developed parts of the world may not have had access to good healthcare before and therefore don’t know much about their own bodies, says Naqvi.
Cultural differences, such as an unbalanced diet and limited physical activity, may also be what’s putting these groups at higher risk, says SCREEN project co-ordinator Hashem Abdalla.