Contains information about the cultural beliefs of, and pertinent medical issues surrounding, recent immigrants and refugees in the United States. Based at the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, this web site focuses on the information needs of health care professionals. Its culture-specific pages provide profiles of a variety of ethnic groups, including Amharic, Cambodian, Chinese, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Mexican, Oromo, Somali, Tigrean, and Vietnamese, along with relevant clinical information about health status and illnesses. Its cross-cultural health pages offer information on a variety of clinical topics, including cancer, dermatology, diabetes, tuberculosis, mental health, peripartum and infant care, and fasting and nutrition; access to articles from the Western Journal of Medicine; and discussion of medical concerns related to immigration. The site also links to the Center’s Community HouseCalls program, which seeks to build bridges between ethnic communities and health institutions; a manual describing the program, with emphasis on the role of interpreter cultural mediators, can be downloaded. Users also can download culture-specific patient-education materials, including information presented in a straightforward question-and-answer format; select pertinent articles from a database of further reading; and link to other related Internet sources, including web sites focusing on the legal aspects of immigration.
