Nurse-Led Intervention Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors in a Yazidi Community

Abstract

Introduction: Immigrating to a new country poses many challenges, including managing daily health care in a new environment. Yazidis experiencing long-standing ethnoreligious persecution in Northern Iraq, fled their homeland seeking safety and refuge in the United States, where approximately 10,000 Yazidi immigrants reside. Method: The researchers collaborated with Yazidi community members to design the healthy lifestyle intervention and ensure cultural sensitivity. Six weekly classes addressed healthy lifestyle behaviors. Data were collected on health promoting activities, biomarkers, and participants’ experiences with the intervention. Results: Participants reported doing slightly more health promoting activities postintervention. Age-related health promoting activities were significantly different at baseline, χ2(2) = 6.093, p = .048, but not postintervention, χ2(2) = 0.212, p = .899. Median loss in biomarkers trended toward clinically significant findings. Participants recommended more strategies to manage stress. Discussion: The pilot study provided an empowering example of nurses collaborating with community members to design a culturally sensitive intervention.