The measles outbreak in Minnesota’s Somali community in 2017 highlighted the crucial importance of cultural competence in infectious disease response. With 79 cases, primarily Somali American youngsters, Minnesota experienced its worst measles outbreak in almost thirty years. Considering cultural similarities and differences, an extensive program should be created to treat this outbreak and promote immunization within the community. Allowing vaccination in response to the measles outbreak in the Somali community of Minnesota and ultimately preventing future attacks is crucial to overcome cultural concerns, cultivate trust, and increasing immunization rates.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, 134,200 people perished from measles in 2015. Measles is an illness that spreads quickly. However, imports from nations where the disease is still common persist even though the United States was designated endemic in 2000 (Leslie et al., 2018). Developing better program designs that can address the condition now and in the future becomes crucial. The needs and capacity assessment is a crucial part of the program design, which identifies the specific cultural variables and constraints that must be removed from the Somali community (Gastanaduy et al., 2018). Engaging the Somali Community, identifying cultural beliefs and practices, evaluating knowledge and awareness, identifying barriers and challenges, and exploring historical or systemic factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy or mistrust are critical steps in the assessment (CDC, 2019). Analyze the resources and capabilities already available to support the vaccination program in Somalia. Identify patterns, contrasts, and commonalities in the community by analyzing data. Create a plan of action that tackles the identified cultural elements, obstacles, and difficulties (Charlton et al., 2021). Ensure that vaccination campaigns are effective and culturally appropriate by utilizing community resources and capacities.
Another crucial element of a culturally competent program to handle the measles outbreak in Minnesota’s Somali community is cultural awareness and understanding. Offering thorough training in cultural competency, language, and communication, addressing misunderstandings and concerns, and honoring cultural norms are essential for promoting cultural awareness and understanding (Streuli, 2021). Training in cultural sensitivity should cover Somali history, customs, cultural norms, and religious practices. Bellware (2017) argues that language and communication should incorporate culturally appropriate communication techniques, such as visual aids, storytelling, and examples from the target culture. Creating educational materials and resources in the Somali language that address prevalent misconceptions and worries is one way to address misconceptions and concerns regarding immunization.
Open and nonjudgmental discussions regarding conventional medical procedures and how they relate to vaccination should be part of any respect for cultural practices. Find approaches to promote immunization that respect cultural norms while working with traditional healers and local leaders (Streuli, 2021). Include significant people, religious leaders, and community leaders from Somalia in the development and execution of the vaccine program (Charlton et al., 2021). Consider religious observances and modify vaccination schedules to coincide with critical religious rituals and occasions (Gastanaduy et al., 2018). To successfully traverse cultural nuances, create trust, and encourage engagement within the Somali community, promote cultural awareness and understanding.
A culturally competent approach to handling the measles outbreak in the Somali community in Minnesota must also include linguistic and culturally acceptable communication. Language availability, creating culturally sensitive educational resources, community outreach and involvement, and religious concerns are essential tactics for linguistically and culturally acceptable communication (Streuli, 2021). All vaccine materials should be available in the Somali language, and experienced translators or multilingual workers should be available to help with language access. Symbols, pictures, and narratives from Somali culture should be incorporated into creating culturally sensitive products (CDC, 2019). Religious issues should be considered when designing images, colors, and layouts for the materials, and community outreach and involvement should involve dependable community members, such as community leaders, religious leaders, and prominent people.
The significance and advantages of immunization can be emphasized through storytelling and first-person accounts from Somali community members. The Somali population should be reached through culturally appropriate means such as Somali-language radio stations, neighborhood newspapers, social media groups, and community activities (Leslie et al., 2018). To maintain the Language preferences, cultural norms, and communication channels must, be respected effectiveness of the immunization campaign and to stop further measles outbreaks; language precompetent approach to handling the measles outbreak in the Minnesota Somali community must provide accessibility and convenience. Geographic proximity, adaptable scheduling, transportation help, price, and insurance coverage are all methods for improving accessibility and convenience (Charlton et al., 2021). The clinics must be close enough to the Somali community to be familiar and accessible. Flexible scheduling should consider important dates, cultural events, and religious observances (Streuli, 2021). To ensure access to the clinics, transportation assistance should be made available.
It is essential to make vaccinations affordable and covered by insurance so the cost does not put off the Somali population. To meet community members’ comfort and privacy requirements, immunization clinics should provide culturally sensitive waiting areas (Gastanaduy et al., 2018). Somali community health professionals should be intermediaries between community members and healthcare providers. These professionals should answer concerns, disperse culturally relevant information, and help community members understand the immunization procedure (Gastanaduy et al., 2018). This strategy will guarantee convenience and accessibility, resulting in higher vaccination rates and efficient measles epidemic containment.
A culturally competent program to combat the measles outbreak in the Minnesota Somali community must include monitoring and evaluation. Clear objectives and indicators, data collection and documentation, ongoing monitoring, and cultural competence evaluation are important aspects of monitoring and evaluation (Charlton et al., 2021). Demographic information, vaccination coverage information, and qualitative comments from community members, healthcare professionals, and program employees should all be collected. To assess the initiative’s effectiveness, ongoing monitoring should look at vaccine coverage rates in the Somali population and compare them to national immunization rates. Assessing cultural competence should include talking to people in the community, healthcare professionals, and program employees and hiring outside consultants or evaluators with experience in this area.
Engage stakeholders in the monitoring and evaluation processes to pinpoint areas that need improvement and implement any necessary changes to communication plans, service delivery methods, or program designs. Prepare periodical reports highlighting significant discoveries, accomplishments, difficulties, and recommendations. Document the monitoring and evaluation methods, findings, and program adjustments (Charlton et al., 2021). The program can assure accountability, pinpoint areas for development, and continuously improve its cultural competence and efficacy in tackling the measles outbreak within the Somali community by implementing comprehensive monitoring and evaluation systems.
In cross-cultural settings, cultural competency is crucial for efficient measles outbreak response. Public health professionals can pinpoint cultural similarities and differences through a thorough need and capacity evaluation. Measles outbreaks in culturally varied areas necessitate a specialized strategy that combines cultural competence principles. The proposed program aims to raise vaccination rates and stop future outbreaks in the Somali community in Minnesota by conducting a thorough needs and capacity assessment, promoting cultural awareness, engaging the community, and using linguistically and culturally appropriate communication. Public health professionals may promote trust, create collaborations, and guarantee the efficacy of epidemic response activities by adopting cultural competency.
References
Bellware, K. (2017, May 11). Doctors were not listening to Somali immigrants’ autism concerns. Then anti-vaxxers did. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/minnesota-measles-outbreak_n_591224dfe4b05e1ca202a154
CDC. (2019, April 8). Measles outbreak — Minnesota April–May 2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6627a1.htm
Charlton, C. L., Hull, N., Sloma, C. R., Bonifas, M., Johnson, M., Strain, A. K., … & Bind, E. P. (2021). How to prepare for the unexpected: A public health laboratory response. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 34(3), e00183-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/cmr.00183-20
Gastanaduy, P. A., Banerjee, E., DeBolt, C., Bravo-Alcántara, P., Samad, S. A., Pastor, D., … & Durrheim, D. N. (2018). Public health responses during measles outbreaks in elimination settings: Strategies and challenges. Human vaccines & immune therapeutics, 14(9), 2222-2238. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2018.1474310
Leslie, T. F., Delamater, P. L., & Yang, Y. T. (2018). It could have been much worse: The Minnesota measles outbreak of 2017. Vaccine, 36(14), 1808-1810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.02.086
Streuli, S. A. (2021). The Context and Development of a Vaccine Promotion Intervention with a Somali Community. University of California, San Diego. https://escholarship.org/content/qt4mj3m90b/qt4mj3m90b.pdf
write