NYU researcher studies effects of Chornobyl on immigrants (04/23/00)

NYU researcher studies effects of Chornobyl on immigrants

by Myroslaw Bytz Jr.

NEW YORK - Fourteen years after the Chornobyl nuclear reactor accident, many facts remain clouded by obscurity. Some might never be known, but the personal aftereffects of the 1986 disaster are now the object of study for RoseMarie Perez Foster, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and professor at New York University's Ehrenkranz School of Social Work.

She plans to interview 600 Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian immigrants in order to establish the extent of their psychological and social damage, and to discern whether those who lived nearer to Chornobyl have suffered more impairment than those who lived farther away.

Dr. Perez Foster first became interested in Chornobyl five years ago, when she began seeing immigrants from around the Ukrainian city in her private clinical practice. She discovered women who hesitated to bear children for fear of giving birth to a deformed child, and men who avoided physical examinations for jobs for fear of being found radioactive. Dr. Perez Foster pointed out that many immigrants believe talking about Chornobyl will cause them to be rejected by their American hosts. Their experience with the disaster, she noted, "interferes with their normal process of healthy acculturation and adjustment."

"The aim is to help other clinicians give better service," said Dr. Perez Foster. "Most of the immigrants have never been hospitalized, and thus they are deathly afraid of every little virus, such as the common cold or a sore throat. They regard themselves as walking time bombs."

Despite this fear, immigrants from the Chornobyl area do not seek the help they need; in fact, they avoid any medical attention at all. To combat this hesitancy, Dr. Perez Foster and her funders, the Glass Institute, have set up a raffle to thank participants in the study. Each has a chance to win one of many prizes.

Leslie Glass, founder of the granting organization, said, "What happened in Chornobyl is something that deserves a lot of study and attention. It is an instance where people experienced a catastophe and came here with trauma."

The Glass Foundation, which she founded, is a non-profit agency dedicated to helping university-affiliated scientific investigators who are exploring the psychosocial impact of multiple types of trauma, poverty, deprivation or immigration on people's lives. It seeks to define and assess the mental health needs of these populations so that more appropriate and effective socal services can be provided for them. The Glass Foundation provides research fellowships for promising graduate students who will work closely with a scientific mentor.

According to Dr. Perez Foster, it will take another two years for the research to be completed and the information compiled. She has approximately 200 interviews completed thus far, and is still actively recruiting more subjects for her study.

To participate in this important project, contact the researchers at New York University, (212) 998-5991. Prospective subjects should have lived close to Chornobyl (up to 150 kilometers away); should be between the ages of 18 and 80; and should be living in the northeastern United States.

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