The Youth Community Health Awareness Partnership (YCHAP) is a partnership between the University of Colorado School of Medicine, 2040 Partners for Health, and the local community of refugees from Burma, with the goal of improving health literacy in regards to problematic alcohol use. Beginning in 2014, current and previous students used national research, along with the help of the local refugee population to identify alcohol use as an ongoing problem in their community. YCHAP’s vision is to use Community Based Participatory Research to implement a culturally appropriate and effective plan to reduce adverse alcohol-related outcomes.

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Refugees often face barriers in language, literacy, culture, and socioeconomic status. With this knowledge, along with an established trusting relationship, YCHAP has conducted IRB-approved private interviews with members of the community. Interviews were later transcribed and analyzed to identify root themes and to tailor future interventions. Currently, the YCHAP team is in the process of presenting their findings to the community and synthesizing possible interventions in direct partnership with the community.