Jurisdiction
Washington Department of Health
Strategy
The Washington Department of Health created a toolkit with information and context for those supporting new Ukrainian refugees to ensure that vaccination records are correctly interpreted and that children are up to date on vaccines required to enter the U.S. public school system.
Challenge
Washington state has welcomed thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the past decade. Upon arrival, many refugees need assistance navigating the local health systems and ensuring that children meet vaccination requirements for public school and childcare. Similarly, many healthcare professionals need help interpreting Ukrainian health records. Resources are required to encourage refugees to put their children through the vaccine schedule rather than filing for a vaccination exemption.
Solution
The Washington Department of Health partnered with the Spokane Regional Health District, the DOH Refugee Immunization program, and IOM healthcare leaders to create the Translation Guide Toolkit. This toolkit contains resources for healthcare workers and others working with refugees to navigate the U.S. healthcare system and to prepare Ukrainian children for entry into the school system. The toolkit includes guidance on interpreting Ukrainian vaccination and medical records, Ukrainian and U.S. vaccine schedules, translations, and images for vaccine names in both Ukrainian and Russian. Additionally, grant funds from this project help support vax4school.org – a Russian language website that provides information on vaccines for children. The website offers translation services for vaccination records free of charge in both Russian and Ukrainian languages.
Outcome
The Washington Department of Health has received positive feedback from local health jurisdictions and school nurses. These groups have shared how the toolkit and other resources helped them better support Ukrainian refugee parents with children entering new schools.
Supplemental Materials