Projects & Publications

Urban Refugees’ Social Support, Psychosocial Health, and Resilience in East Africa  

Our ongoing community-engaged research in Kenya and Tanzania is based on collaborative relationships with colleagues at institutions such as the Moi University Institute for Peace, Amref Health Africa / Amref International University, and HelpAge International. We use strengths-based approaches to identify how refugees promote health and wellbeing with a careful eye toward implications for how these strategies can be supported via humanitarian mechanisms. 

Lab members involved: Julie Tippens, Sarah Erwin 

Publications: 

  • Tippens, J. A., Hatton-Bowers, H., Honomichl, R., Wheeler, L., Miamidian, H. M., Bash, K., Howell Smith, M., Nyaoro, D., Byrd, J. J., Packard, S., & Teufel-Shone, N. (in press). Psychological distress prevalence and associated stressors and supports among urban-displaced Congolese adults in Kenya. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
  • Tippens, J. A. (2020). Congolese refugees’ generational perceptions of social support in urban Tanzania. Global Social Welfare, 7(1), 69–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-019-00155-2 
  • Erwin, S., Sewall, J., Tippens, J. A., Nyaoro, D, & Miamidian, H. M. (2020). Do not forget families and households when addressing urban refugee education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 50(1), 141–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2019.1626104
  • Tippens, J. A. (2020). Urban Congolese refugees’ social capital and community resilience during a period of political violence in Kenya: A qualitative study. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 18(1), 42-59. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2019.1569744
  • Tippens, J. A. (2017). Urban Congolese refugees in Kenya: The contingencies of coping and resilience in a context marked by structural vulnerability. Qualitative Health Research, 27(7), 1090–1103. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732316665348 

Supporting Refugee and Immigrant Community Health Workers 

The goal of this Nebraska Extension ‘New Audiences Award’- funded project is to support community health workers’ (CHWs’) wellbeing and quality of life through the participatory co-development of a self-compassion-based mindfulness curriculum. CHWs will be able to use strategies from the curriculum for personal use (e.g., stress reduction techniques) as well as to support members of their communities. 

(Co-)Principal Investigators: Holly Hatton-Bowers (PI), Virginia Chaidez (co-PI), Julie Tippens (co-PI)

Lab Members Involved: Julie Tippens, Elizabeth Mollard, Brittany Bearss, Evelyn Estrada-Gonzalez

Refugee and Immigrant Health and Integration in New Rural Destinations

  • Tippens, J. A. & Springer, P. R. (2021). [Commentary.] Pandemic inequities: Social and structural determinants of refugees’ health in rural settings during Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Family & Community Health, 44(2), 102–107. https://europepmc.org/article/MED/33464763  
  • Chaidez, V., Qiu, Y., Palmer-Wackerly, A., Tippens, J. A., Parra, G., Habecker, P., Gocchi Carrasco, K., Soliz, J., Pytlik Zillig, L., & Dombrowski, K. (2021). Ethnic comparisons in perceptions of health, happiness, hope and related social determinants of health in a majority-minority Midwest town. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 48(1), 136–163. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol48/iss1/6 
  • Tippens, J. A., Parra, G. R., Habecker, P., Gocchi Carrasco, K., Andrews III, A. R., Palmer-Wackerly, A. L., Chaidez, V., Soliz, J., Pytlik Zillig, L. & Dombrowski, K. (2020). Emotional support and mental health of Somali refugees in a rural midwestern town. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 44(3), 170–183. https://doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000136

(Co-)Principal Investigators: Cristián Doña-Reveco (PI), Laura Alexander (Co-PI), Julie Tippens (Co-PI)

Lab members involved: Julie Tippens

Mobilizing Support for Immigrants and Refugees during COVID-19 

We have two projects funded to support immigrant and refugee health and mental health-related to COVID-19. The first focuses on (a) an assessment of community members’ perceptions of immigrant and refugee health needs during COVID-19, and (b) how a community of practice (CoP) model can be leveraged to improve refugees’ and immigrants’ access to health and supportive services via improved referral systems in Lincoln, NE. The second project focuses on improving multi-level communication to advance health equity for immigrants and refugees in rural meatpacking towns across Nebraska. 

(Co-)Principal Investigators: Project 1 co-PIs – Julie Tippens, Elizabeth Mollard, Sheila Dorsey Vinton; Project 2 co-PIs – Virginia Chaidez, Angela Palmer Wackerly 

Lab members involved: Elizabeth Mollard, Julie Tippens, Alexandra (Ali) Martin (Project Manager) 

Mental Health, Help-Seeking, and Resilience among Refugees in U.S. Resettlement 

Our ongoing research in Nebraska is done in collaboration with both community partners and colleagues from the Minority Health Disparities Initiative. These projects are based on community partners’ priorities and findings are disseminated via coalition meetings and brief reports in addition to refereed articles. 

Lab members involved: Julie Tippens, Elizabeth Mollard, Katelyn Hepworth, Kara Kohel, Irene Padasas, Kaitlin Roselius

Publications: 

  • Tippens, J. A., Roselius, K., Padasas, I., Khalif, G., Kohel, K., Mollard, E., & Sheikh, I. V. (2021). Cultural bereavement and resilience in refugee resettlement: A photovoice study with Yazidi women in the Midwest U.S. Qualitative Health Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497323211003059 
  • Palmer-Wackerly, A. L., Reyes, M. S., Ali, S. H., Carrasco, K. G., Habecker, P., Houska, K., Chaidez, V., Soliz, J., Tippens, J. A., Holland, K. J., Pytlik Zillig, L., Patterson, K., & Dombrowski, K. (2021). Examining multilevel communication within CBPR through evaluation of a mixed-methods project in a rural, minority-majority town. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 49(2), 129–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2020.1851042

Supporting Older Refugees’ Wellbeing and Resilience: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Older adults affected by forced migration, including those who age in postmigration settings (e.g., resettlement) and those who migrate at an older age, comprise a significant proportion of the refugee population. However, there is a dearth of research identifying factors that promote older adults’ health and wellbeing in postmigration settings. This review contributes to the critical gap, applying social and structural determinants of health framework, to compile evidence-informed factors, resources, and strategies to promote older refugees’ wellbeing.

Lab members involved: Julie Tippens, Sarah Erwin, Brittany Bearss