| 1. |
- Andersson, Lena, 1965, et al.
(författare)
-
Suicidal thoughts among undocumented migrants in Sweden
- 2021
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 17:2, s. 105-118
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose - Early identification of persons at risk is essential in suicide prevention. Undocumented migrants (UM) live under limited conditions and are to a high degree invisible, both in research and in suicide prevention programmes. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence rates of suicidal thoughts among UM in Sweden.Design/methodology/approach - This cross-sectional study was part of the Swedish Health Research on Undocumented Migrants project (SHERUM). The study population consisted of 104 UM over 18 years of age recruited through informal networks. Data on 112 multiple choice questions was collected via trained interviewers in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Malmo during 2014-2016. To assess suicidal thoughts (the last two weeks) one item asking about suicidal thought in the Beck Depression Inventory scale (BDI-II) was used. Logistic regression and chi-square analyses were made to identify risk and protective factors.Findings - Suicidal thoughts were found in 43.2% of the 88 UM that answered the question on suicidal thoughts. Being a parent had some protective influence on the prevalence of suicidal thoughts while the housing situation, having been exposed to crime and having mental illness were all statistically significant risk factors for suicidal thoughts. However, due to low sample size, few variables presented statistically significant differences.Originality/value - This study presents an alarmingly high prevalence of suicidal thoughts among undocumented migrants in Sweden, a difficult-to reach, vulnerable and rarely studied group. Targeted strategies are imperative to include undocumented migrants in suicidal prevention programmes.
|
|
| 2. |
- Bergström-Wuolo, Maya, et al.
(författare)
-
My heart has no hurt : The health of young immigrants
- 2018
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - Bingley : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 14:3, s. 290-304
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore health from the perspective of young immigrants in Sweden.Design/methodology/approach: A total of 25 newly arrived young immigrants attending Swedish language classes in northern Sweden participated by drawing and writing open letters. They continued the open-ended sentence “Now I’ll draw and describe a day when I was feeling good, that was […].”Findings: The phenomenological analysis resulted in three themes: longing to be in control for a better life, searching for power in the good and the bad, and striving for a sense of belonging in the new society. The findings illuminate young immigrants’ perspectives of a health-promoting everyday life consisting of agency, reflection and a sense of community. The findings also highlight the young immigrants’ experiences when health-promoting aspects are lacking, characterized by disillusionment, anxiety and loneliness. The findings are discussed with health promotion, health literacy and young immigrants in mind.Practical implications: According to young immigrants, meeting basic needs such as food, sleep and housing is health promoting but easily taken for granted. Being able to have a say in matters concerning everyday life, social inclusion and finding power in memories – positive and negative – can promote health in young immigrants.Originality/value: The young immigrants were able to communicate via drawings and words to overcome language barriers. © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited.
|
|
| 3. |
- Bjerneld, Magdalena, 1950-, et al.
(författare)
-
Companions to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Sweden – experiences of Swedish families
- 2022
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 18:2, s. 179-191
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Many unaccompanied children have sought asylum in Sweden during recent years. They needed different kinds of support not only from the authorities but also from the local community. The purpose of this paper is to explore how families from local communities can support the children and be the neutral companion they long for.Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews was adopted for this descriptive study. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.Findings: The families wanted to know more about unaccompanied children than the information presented in the mass media. They showed deep engagement in getting to know the boys and strong affection for them because they got a sense of how difficult their lives were. Families with experience as parents can play an important role to guide the children into the Swedish society and be trustful adults who can complement the professionals in the authorities and accommodations. The families in this project needed more support through information and strategies about how to handle difficult situations during the children’s asylum process.Research limitations/implications: This study describes a pilot project in a small municipality in Sweden. The participating families described the support given to a group of boys. More studies should focus on support for girls in similar situation.Originality/value: There are limited studies on how families in local communities can support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bjerneld, Magdalena, 1950-, et al.
(författare)
-
Experiences and reflections of Somali unaccompanied girls on their first years in Sweden : a follow-up study after two decades
- 2018
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 14:3, s. 305-317
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose:Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) from Somalia are one of the largest groups of UASC in Europe and Sweden. The current study is a follow-up of a Swedish study conducted in 1999, where unaccompanied asylum-seeking girls (UASG) from Somalia were interviewed. In 2013, UASG from the 1999 study were interviewed again, as adults who have settled and found a new life in Sweden. The purpose of this paper is to explore how these women experienced their transition into the Swedish society.Design/methodology/approach:A qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews was adopted for this descriptive study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.Findings:UASG need support from different groups of adults, ranging from the staff at the group homes to community members, including countrymen, to establish a good life in their new country. The UASG need understanding and knowledgeable staff that can support them through the initial period, when they do not have their parents close to them. All actors in the supporter network need more knowledge about the difficulties in war situations. Former UASC can assist newcomers as well as being informants to authorities in a new country. Both parties involved need to be open and willing to learn from each other.Research limitations/implications:UASG who consider themselves successful in being integrated into the Swedish society were interviewed and, therefore, the study mainly describes aspects that promote integration.Originality/value:There are limited follow-up studies on how UASG have experienced their life after almost two decades in the new country.
|
|
| 5. |
- Elmeroth, Elisabeth, 1947-
(författare)
-
Searching for coherence from Viet Nam to Sweden
- 2011
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - : Emerald. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 7:3, s. 120-130
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – This study seeks to capture the lived experiences of five refugees making the transition from Viet Nam to Sweden. It seeks to focus on the problems of integration in Swedish society.Design/methodology/approach – The research took a narrative approach by asking questions about the ways in which refugees make sense of the multiple and sometimes dramatic changes that exile involves. The interpretation procedure was performed in three recurring phases: naïve reading, thematic structural analysis and comprehensive understanding.Findings – In the structural analyses, three sub-themes were abstracted: in the hands of authorities/forced to leave home; regarded as uneducated and untrained; and lack of balance. These sub-themes show a situation that could be interpreted by the concept of sense of coherence (SOC). The comprehensive understanding shows that the prerequisites for a stable SOC are unsatisfactory.Practical implications – The study reported here implies that there is a need for changes in integration policy. In an integrated society, individuals should be met with a policy that aims to empower and takes into consideration the lived experiences and different components that work together to create an SOC.Originality/value – The contribution from this research is the combination of qualitative data, the theory about SOC, and the description of the edifice of SOC. This combination helps to understand and explain the essence of the respondents' lived experiences.
|
|
| 6. |
- Eriksson-Sjöö, Tina, et al.
(författare)
-
Quality of life and health promotion intervention : a follow up study among newly-arrived Arabic-speaking refugees in Malmö, Sweden
- 2012
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 8:3, s. 112-126
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – This study aims to illuminate self-perceived health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among newly-arrived Arabic-speaking refugees in Malmo¨ , Sweden participating in a specific group Health Promotion activity. Design/methodology/approach – Data consist of questionnaires, observations and oral evaluations in groups. Questions about HRQoL was measured by EQ-5D self-assessment containing five dimensions and three response options of severity, including a visual analog health rating scale. Participants’ sleep patterns were measured by a sleep and recovery questionnaire with questions about sleep quality and sleep quantity. Findings – The results show that disturbed sleep relates to EQ-5D variables and to health rating scores. Moreover, there are changes over time and participants’ perceptions of their health and quality of life in most EQ-5D variables have significantly increased after the end of activity. In the variables pain and depression an improvement remains even at second follow up and health rating scores are higher at both follow ups relative to what it was originally. Sleep and recovery problems were perceived as less difficult at the course completion and second follow up. Research limitations/implications – Because of practical and ethical reasons there is an absence of a control group in this study. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for education in medicine, health care and social work, for the design of the refugee reception programs and for the inter-professional collaborations. Originality/value – The paper shows that health promotion interventions in group setting in the first stage of resettlement turn out to be useful according to HRQoL and knowledge of the health care system. Keywords Health promotion, Refugees, Arabic-speaking, Health-related quality of life, Sweden, Immigration, Health care
|
|
| 7. |
- Hedlund, Daniel, 1982-
(författare)
-
Constructions of credibility in decisions concerning unaccompanied minors
- 2017
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 13:2, s. 157-172
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the key credibility principles used by Migration Agency case-officers in Sweden. More specifically it analyses how they construct arguments about asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors’ credibility in first-decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe study is inspired by a social constructionist approach to discourse and explore how case-officers construct legally legitimate arguments about credibility. The qualitative text analysis is focused on discursive practice. The data selected for analysis consists of 827 excerpts containing case-officers’ credibility reasoning deducted from a sample of 916 decisions.FindingsThe main finding is that case-officers question unaccompanied minors by using argumentative techniques in which children appear to be expected to deliver detailed and coherent accounts. In addition, unaccompanied minors’ knowledge-claims can be questioned regardless of decision outcome (rejection or approval). As unaccompanied minors’ claims for asylum appear to be questioned in such an extensive manner, their humanitarian claims also seem to be reduced. The findings of this study suggest that there is a risk that the possibility to be understood as a legitimate asylum seeker, worthy of residency, can be restricted for unaccompanied minors.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that when case-officers base their understanding of credibility on unaccompanied children’s individual life experiences they make use of a limited repertoire of arguments.Originality/valueThis study contributes to insights about how case-officers fulfil legal expectations when assessing unaccompanied minors’ credibility. The findings can be of interest to both legal and social science as well policy planners and immigration practitioners.
|
|
| 8. |
- Hedlund, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
-
Legislators’ perceptions of unaccompanied children seeking asylum
- 2015
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 11:4, s. 239-252
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore how individual legislators perceive unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, their life situation, needs and best interests.Design/methodology/approach– The total number of participants were 15. Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was used in order to identify and analyze patterns in the interview data. The authors focused on their responses to the questions about the best interest of the child in migration policy and practice, and how this principle was related to unaccompanied children seeking asylum.Findings– The main finding is that chronological age becomes a key sign for how legislators understand the life situation, needs and best interests of unaccompanied children. Also, the findings from this study suggest that the moralizing welfare ideology of the past is still present in political discourse and social planning, construing unaccompanied minors as an ambivalent category between civilization and savagery. The findings from this study indicate that legislators enact reforms of importance for unaccompanied children without considering them as agents of their own future, with their own motives and reasons to seek asylum.Practical implications– The findings from this study indicate a need to adapt the understanding of the existing Aliens Act (SFS 2005:716) to the knowledge that unaccompanied minors need to be assessed on their own terms.Originality/value– This study contributes to increasing the understanding about how the subjective values of legislators may have influenced migration reform in Sweden that can be valuable to both legal and social research, as well as policy planners.
|
|
| 9. |
- Humphris, Rachel, et al.
(författare)
-
After encounters : revealing patients’ unseen work through their pathways to care
- 2020
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - : Emerald. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 16:2, s. 173-187
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Research has long focused on the notion of access and the trajectory towards a healthcare encounter but has neglected what happens to patients after these initial encounters. This paper focuses attention on what happens after an initial healthcare encounter leading to a more nuanced understanding of how patients from a diverse range of backgrounds make sense of medical advice, how they mix this knowledge with other forms of information and how they make decisions about what to do next.Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on 160 in-depth interviews across four European countries the paper problematizes the notion of access; expands the definition of “decision partners”; and reframes the medical encounter as a journey, where one encounter leads to and informs the next.Findings: This approach reveals the significant unseen, unrecognised and unacknowledged work that patients undertake to solve their health concerns.Originality/value: De-centring the professional from the healthcare encounter allows us to understand why patients take particular pathways to care and how resources might be more appropriately leveraged to support both patients and professionals along this journey.
|
|
| 10. |
- Ivert, Anna-Karin, et al.
(författare)
-
Drug use and criminality among unaccompanied refugee minors : a review of the literature
- 2020
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1747-9894 .- 2042-8650. ; 16:1, s. 93-107
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – Organisations working with children have acknowledged that unaccompanied refugee minors (URM) across Europe are exposed to environments and situations that put them at risk for becoming addicted to drugs or becoming involved in crime. The purpose of this paper is to study an examination of existing international research concerning URM and of whether, and if so how, issues relating to drug use and criminality among these children are discussed in the international literature. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was conducted using PsycINFO, PubMed, Sociological abstracts and ERIC databases, which together cover the social and behavioural science and also medicine. Findings – Findings from the present review show that the issues of drug abuse and criminality among URM are rarely acknowledged in the international research literature. When the occurrence of substance abuse and/or criminality is discussed, it is often in relation to mental health problems and in terms of self-medication, i.e. that alcohol or drugs are used by the URM to cope with painful experiences or mental health problems, and also with the challenges of integrating into a new society, difficulties finding work, unsuitable living conditions and a lack of social support. Originality/value – This review shows that several researchers have emphasised that untreated mental health problems, stressful living conditions and a lack of support and control might put these children at risk for substance abuse and criminality, and this suggests a need for further research in this area.
|
|
