The purpose of the Immigrant health initiative is to support research to design and implement effective interventions to enhance health advantages and reduce health disparities among U.S. immigrant populations (particularly migrant workers, recent and 1st generation immigrants) and address factors related to immigration experiences that affect health. For the purposes of this funding announcement, the term “1st generation” refers to people who were born in their native country and relocated to the U.S. The term “2nd generation” refers to the U.S. born children of 1st generation immigrants.
Given the scientific literature documenting health inequities among immigrant populations, this announcement calls for multidisciplinary/multilevel research focusing on the design and implementation of effective interventions that will address immigrant-specific factors to reduce health disparities, particularly among migrant workers, recent and 1st generation immigrants.
The intervention research under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) should be aimed at improving the health outcome among immigrant groups by targeting the complex causes or consequences of health disparities. Multi-level interventions that include a combination of individual, group (such as peers, family members, etc.), and/or community-level intervention components have been shown to be effective in improving health outcomes. Therefore, this FOA strongly encourages multi-level interventions (i.e., ranging from individuals to societies) in addressing immigrant health disparities.
A life-course perspective is encouraged with interventions focusing attention on transition points across the lifespan and associated risk and protective factors for immigrant populations. Such an approach emphasizes the fact that early life disadvantage need not lead to later negative health outcomes, provided there are compensatory experiences in the intervening years. Attention to the pre-existing immigration experiences, cultural values and related health practices, to how the experience of migration itself, or adjustment, adaptation and assimilation/ long term residence to a new cultural, social, political and ecological environment may affect health outcomes, is encouraged. Intervention should focus on improving and or maintaining the protective factors in the lives of immigrants that may buffer the effects of adversity.
Applicants are encouraged to consider multilevel interventions to improve the health outcomes of immigrants, put into motion by the immigration process throughout the life course. These may include interventions to foster positive interactions and more inclusive, social climates in schools, workplaces, and other organizations/institution level or strategies to improve access to healthy foods, or safe recreational spaces to improve immigrant health.
Applications are due June 5, 2023.