Team Members
- Carlos Mendes de Leon, PhD
- Minal Patel, PhD, MPH
- Madiha Tariq, MPH
Research Project Description
The goal of this project is to develop a program that addresses the health-related social needs of patients from Arab American and immigrant backgrounds. The program will be designed to create a better integration of the services needed for medical issues and the social needs of this population. It will be implemented in the context of the clinical services offered at the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). ACCESS is a large, nonprofit community organization located in Dearborn, MI, which contains one of the largest concentrations of Arab Americans in the U.S. The importance of this project is underscored by the significant health-related social needs in Arab American and immigrant communities, which focus importantly on mental and behavioral health issues.
The Project will involve three steps. The first step is aimed at identifying the health-related social needs in the ACCESS patient population. Guided by existing literature, we will confer with the primary clinical and leadership stakeholders at ACCESS, as well as with representatives from ACCESS patients and the communities that are served by ACCESS. The information gathered at this stage will inform the design and testing of a structured, systematic assessment of social needs in the routine delivery of medical services at ACCESS. Assessment tools will be developed in both English and Arabic. The second step will be the integration of the assessment in the electronic health record (EHR) system. The third step will be to use the EHR system to devise a strategy of referral and follow-up, and collect initial data on the success of referrals. The team envisions to scale up this approach to address the health-related social needs in this population with follow-up programs at much larger health care systems, such as the Henry Ford Health System located in the same area.
Team Members
Carlos Mendes de Leon, PhD
Dr. Mendes de Leon is a Professor of Epidemiology and Global Public Health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. His work focuses on a broad array of social and psychological determinants that affect the development and progression of common, age-related chronic conditions and their effects on disability, cognitive decline and quality of life in older age.
Minal Patel, PhD, MPH
Dr. Patel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. Her research focuses on the development and evaluation of behavioral interventions that focus on improving self-efficacy and navigation skills for individuals to access complex health care delivery systems, affordable healthcare, and management of chronic disease.
Madiha Tariq, MPH
Madiha Tariq, MPH, is the deputy director at the ACCESS Community Health and Research Center in Dearborn, Michigan. She also leads a team that focuses on primary care, behavioral health and public health programs. Madiha is a community advocate for improved access to health care through outreach, education and advocacy with the Affordable Care Act in Michigan. Her research interests are centered around health equity and culturally specific health in the Arab American community. She is also involved in national efforts to bridge the research gap in the Arab American community- a group that is currently not a federally categorized minority group.
Issue Brief: Dearborn, MI
Integrating Social Service Screening and Referrals into Primary Care for the Southeastern Michigan Arab-American and Immigrant Community
