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Refugee women's experience of the resettlement process: a qualitative study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Resettlement can be particularly challenging for women as having a lower socioeconomic status and language barriers, may impede women's access to education, employment opportunities, health-care services, as well as the cultural, social, material and resilience factors that facilitate adjustment and adaption. Thus, the aim of this study is to further explore the perception of refugee women in Sweden concerning their situation during active participation in the resettlement process in the country. METHODS:Qualitative interview study with 11 recently arrived refugee women who had received their residence permits and were enrolled in the resettlement process. The interviews were conducted in Swedish with the support of an authorized Arabic translator present by telephone. RESULTS:Refugee women suffered from being separated from their loved ones and felt compelled to achieve something of value in the host country. All experienced both physical and mental anguish. CONCLUSIONS:Stakeholders in societies that receive refugee women should stress the importance of finding opportunities for and fast entrance into employment in the host countries. This would be beneficial for the integration and well-being of refugee women after migration.

SUBMITTER: Mangrio E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6882316 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Refugee women's experience of the resettlement process: a qualitative study.

Mangrio Elisabeth E Zdravkovic Slobodan S Carlson Elisabeth E

BMC women's health 20191127 1

<h4>Background</h4>Resettlement can be particularly challenging for women as having a lower socioeconomic status and language barriers, may impede women's access to education, employment opportunities, health-care services, as well as the cultural, social, material and resilience factors that facilitate adjustment and adaption. Thus, the aim of this study is to further explore the perception of refugee women in Sweden concerning their situation during active participation in the resettlement pro ...[more]

PMID: 31775733

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Project description:BackgroundThe global refugee population has reached a staggering 25.9 million. Approximately 16% of global refugees resettle in high-income countries which are often culturally very different from their home countries. This can create cross-cultural challenges when accessing health services, leading to inappropriate assessments, diagnoses and treatments if cultural background is not factored in. The impact of culture on the conceptualization and experience of postpartum depression (PPD) amongst migrant women has received growing attention in recent years, however, a specific focus on refugee and asylum-seeking women is lacking. Given the unique mental health challenges refugee women face, it is hypothesized that the interplay between culture and postpartum depression amongst refugee women may differ from other migrant women. Therefore, a scoping review was conducted to characterize what is known about the impact of culture on the conceptualization and experience of PPD in refugee women resettled in high-income countries.Methods and findingsThis study was conducted as a scoping review in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute's Methodology for Scoping Reviews. A systematic search of studies addressing the relationship between culture and postpartum depression amongst refugee women (including asylum-seeking women) resettled in high-income countries was conducted across 6 databases including MEDLINE, PsycINFO and SOCINDEX between June 2018 and August 2019. A total of 637 articles were found. Studies were eligible if they focused on refugee women who had a pregnancy during forced migration or upon resettlement in a high-income country and focused on the impact of culture on women's conceptualization and/or experience of PPD. Eight studies met inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis, the majority of which were qualitatively driven. Four key themes emerged: 1) there are diverse conceptualizations and experiences of postpartum depression amongst refugee women; 2) mental health stigma has a significant impact on women's conceptualizations and experiences of postpartum depression and help-seeking behaviors; 3) cultural traditions and social support play protective roles in postpartum mental wellbeing; and, 4) host culture has a significant influence on the pregnancy and postpartum experience of refugee women. The overall themes align with those seen in the literature on migrant women in general, however significant research gaps remain.ConclusionThe studies identified through this scoping review provide a rich description of the significant impact culture has on the conceptualization and experience of postpartum depression among refugee women resettled in high-income countries. Though overall themes align with those seen in the literature on migrant women in general, further research is needed to better characterize how culture impacts refugee women's experiences of PPD as a distinct sub-group of migrant women.

Project description:BackgroundWomen's childbirth experiences in health facilities is at the core of quality of care. Their perceptions of poor-quality care, including disrespectful care at health facilities during childbirth, is recognized as a significant barrier to seeking care for subsequent births. Research that explores women's perspectives of the dimensions of disrespect and mistreatment during childbirth in Arab countries is scarce, and there is none pertaining to refugee groups who carry the burden of multiple vulnerabilities and who suffer from discontinued care, especially in fragile health systems. This paper aims at presenting Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian refugee women's experiences, understanding and interpretation of disrespect and mistreatment during childbirth in hospitals in Lebanon.MethodsThis study employed phenomenology, a qualitative research design to generate data through in-depth interviews. Women who were 3 to 6 months postpartum were recruited through the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are actively engaged in providing welfare and healthcare services to different populations of refugee women in Lebanon. In total, 24 women were interviewed. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and subjected to thematic analysis.ResultsOf the 24 women who participated in this study, 9 were Palestinian, 12 were Syrian and 3 were Iraqi. The participants spoke of restricted choices to hospitals, care providers and to types of birth, while revealing adverse experiences during childbirth in healthcare facilities, including verbal and physical abuse, disrespectful verbal and non-verbal communication by healthcare providers. They also reported sub-standard care, denial of birth companions and breaches to their privacy. Our findings exemplify how the coverage of the cost of facility-based births by UN agencies and NGOs increase refugee women's vulnerability to disrespect and mistreatment during childbirth.ConclusionThis study shows how disrespect and mistreatment are intertwined in a complex system which is devised to ensure access to facility-based birth for displaced populations. Implications for programs and policies point to the need for strengthening capacity and for providing resources for the adaptation of global guidelines into context-specific strategies for the provision of quality maternity care during humanitarian crises and beyond.

Project description:BackgroundSchools play a key role in supporting the well-being and resettlement of refugee children, and parental engagement with the school may be a critical factor in the process. Many resettlement countries have policies in place to support refugee parents' engagement with their children's school. However, the impact of these programs lacks systematic evaluation. This study first aimed to validate self-report measures of parental school engagement developed specifically for the refugee context, and second, to identify parent characteristics associated with school engagement, so as to help tailor support to families most in need.Methods and findingsThe report utilises 2016 baseline data of a cohort study of 233 Arabic-speaking parents (77% response rate) of 10- to 12-year-old schoolchildren from refugee backgrounds across 5 schools in Sydney, Australia. Most participants were born in Iraq (81%) or Syria (11%), and only 25% spoke English well to very well. Participants' mean age was 40 years old, and 83% were female. Confirmatory factor analyses were run on provisional item sets identified from a literature review and separate qualitative study. The findings informed the development of 4 self-report tools assessing parent engagement with the school and school community, school belonging, and quality of the relationship with the schools' bilingual cultural broker. Cronbach alpha and Pearson correlations with an established Teacher-Home Communication subscale demonstrated adequate reliability (α = 0.67 to 0.80) and construct and convergent validity of the measures (p < 0.01), respectively. Parent characteristics were entered into respective least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analyses. The degree of parents' psychological distress (as measured by the Kessler10 self-report instrument) and postmigration living difficulties (PLMDs) were each associated with lower school engagement and belonging, whereas less time lived in Australia, lower education levels, and an unemployed status were associated with higher ratings in relationship quality with the schools' cultural broker. Study limitations include the cross-sectional design and the modest amount of variance (8% to 22%) accounted for by the regression models.ConclusionsThe study offers preliminary refugee-specific measures of parental school engagement. It is expected they will provide a resource for evaluating efforts to support the integration of refugee families into schools. The findings support the need for initiatives that identify and support parents with school-attending children from refugee backgrounds who are experiencing psychological distress or resettlement stressors. At the school level, the findings suggest that cultural brokers may be effective in targeting newly arrived families.

Dataset Information

Refugee women's experience of the resettlement process: a qualitative study.

Publications

Refugee women's experience of the resettlement process: a qualitative study.

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