How Community Supports Impact Refugee Success

The focus of my doctoral capstone experience & project focused on how occupational therapy can support community engagement for refugees. Further this course will explore how this can impact resettlement for refugee communities. My overarching goal within this experience was advocacy. Within this capstone project, I worked with a nonprofit that helps aid refugees in the resettlement process within their first year of arriving to the United States. As an occupational therapy student, I explored how occupational therapists can also play a role in refugee resettlement. Occupational therapists can help engage refugees within their communities, connect them to resources, and support them in social participation within their new communities. Occupational therapists can also teach people within their communities about refugees and the specific barriers and challenges they face, and advocate for how changes can be made to support these challenges. In this capstone experience, I found that engaging refugees in their community and connecting them with resources helped improve different aspects of their lives, and helped them feel more comfortable in their new communities. Connecting refugees to their communities can help improve their overall health and well-being. This course is intended for occupational therapists and occupational therapy students, as well as clinical educators and health researchers.