Women refugees arrive in the United States often having experienced extreme levels of poverty, deprivation, and violence, including gender-based violence, which can severely affect their physical and psychological health and well-being. A women's group was initiated to improve the health and well-being of refugee women in Durham, North Carolina, through a collaboratively designed, culturally appropriate health literacy intervention for women based on mutually identified needs; to empower them to seek preventive health services and screening through knowledge and skills about health needs and access to care; and to create an environment for the development of a supportive social/peer network for the prevention of social isolation and mental health issues related to the refugee experience. © 2016, Springer Publishing Company.

psychosocial support Health Health literacy Refugee women Social isolation

North Carolina psychological well-being preventive health service refugee skill psychosocial care health literacy gender based violence screening poverty human social isolation