Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.4
Journals
IJERPH
Special Issues
Social and Structural Determinants of Health in Migrants and Ethnic...
ijerph-logo
Submit to IJERPH Review for IJERPH Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Social and Structural Determinants of Health in Migrants and Ethnic Minorities—Conceptual, Methodological, and Empirical Advancement in the Times of COVID-19

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 11254

Special Issue Editors

Dr. María Roura

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Public Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Interests: COVID-19; migrants; ethnic minorities; Public and Patient Involvement (PPI); participatory health research; co-production, community based research
Dr. Kim Ozano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Public Health, Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases (CNTD), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Pl, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK
Interests: co-production; participatory research; community-based research; implementation science

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Evidence of a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 in migrants and ethnic minorities is accumulating fast, with documented higher infection and mortality rates that are only partially explained by individual level factors (OECD, 2020). This suggests that the broader social determinants of health are exacerbating the vulnerability to COVID-19 of migrants and ethnic minorities, including internally displaced immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, travelers, and other ethnic minorities, such as Roma/Sinti populations. Among labor migrants, COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in specific occupational groups often composed of migrants, including temporary agricultural workers, employees at meat processing plants, and healthcare professionals. Amongst the latter, the greatest share of the COVID-19 burden appears to have fallen on the 70% of women that make up the global health workforce (UNWOMEN, 2020). In addition, there are indications that health workers of migrant origin have been particularly affected by shortages of personal protective equipment, exacerbating their risk of infection (Rimmer, 2020).

Amidst the various measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 infection, laws passed across the globe have set a new landscape of rules that shape the social determinants of health (Gostin, 2019). At the same time, in a context where “race” has been associated to COVID-19 since its outset, the epidemic has been politically used to fuel xenophobia but has also catalyzed social mobilization to resist racism, particularly among migrants who have joined forces to participate in society in a more activist manner (Wang, 2020).

Against this backdrop, transdisciplinary approaches are needed more than ever to co-create innovative solutions that are tailored to peoples’ day-to-day needs and have potential for translation into transformative social action. To attain this goal, researchers need to find new ways of bringing people and disciplines together in a more meaningful manner. 

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the broader determinants of health in the context of a severely racialized pandemic. We welcome papers focused on the social and structural determinants of COVID-19 in migrants and ethnic minorities, with a particular emphasis on the racial, gender, political, and legislative determinants of health. We are particularly interested in papers that employ transdisciplinary, participatory, and co-production research approaches to meaningfully involve migrants and ethnic minorities in the response to COVID-19, in its broadest sense. This includes a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, occupational determinants of health, access and uptake of vaccines, participation of ethnic minorities in clinical trials, stigma and discrimination, the built environment, living conditions, health care entitlements, and any other broader determinant of health; as well as approaches and tools to meaningfully engage migrants and ethnic minorities in action-oriented research.

We will publish mainly empirical and methodological papers but will also consider narrative and systematic reviews, policy analyses, as well as conceptual papers, brief reports, and commentaries.

Dr. María Roura
Dr. Kim Ozano
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • migrants
  • ethnic minorities
  • public and patient involvement (PPI)
  • participatory health research
  • co-production
  • community-based research

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

18 pages, 1479 KiB  
Article
The Impact of the Pandemic on Mental Health in Ethnically Diverse Mothers: Findings from the Born in Bradford, Tower Hamlets and Newham COVID-19 Research Programmes
by Claire McIvor, Yassaman Vafai, Brian Kelly, Sarah E. O’Toole, Michelle Heys, Ellena Badrick, Halima Iqbal, Kate E. Pickett, Claire Cameron and Josie Dickerson
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 14316; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114316 - 2 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2768
Abstract
Restrictions implemented by the UK Government during the COVID-19 pandemic have served to worsen mental health outcomes, particularly amongst younger adults, women, those living with chronic health conditions, and parents of young children. Studies looking at the impact for ethnic minorities have reported [...] Read more.
Restrictions implemented by the UK Government during the COVID-19 pandemic have served to worsen mental health outcomes, particularly amongst younger adults, women, those living with chronic health conditions, and parents of young children. Studies looking at the impact for ethnic minorities have reported inconsistent findings. This paper describes the mental health experiences of mothers from a large and highly ethnically diverse population during the pandemic, using secondary analysis of existing data from three COVID-19 research studies completed in Bradford and London (Tower Hamlets and Newham). A total of 2807 mothers participated in this study with 44% White British, 23% Asian/Asian British Pakistani, 8% Other White and 7% Asian/Asian British Bangladeshi backgrounds. We found that 28% of mothers experienced clinically important depressive symptoms and 21% anxiety symptoms during the pandemic. In unadjusted analyses, mothers from White Other, and Asian/Asian British Bangladeshi backgrounds had higher odds of experiencing symptoms, whilst mothers from Asian/Asian British Indian backgrounds were the least likely to experience symptoms. Once loneliness, social support and financial insecurity were controlled for, there were no statistically significant differences in depression and anxiety by ethnicity. Mental health problems experienced during the pandemic may have longer term consequences for public health. Policy and decision makers must have an understanding of the high risk of financial insecurity, loneliness and a lack of social support on mother’s mental health, and also recognise that some ethnic groups are far more likely to experience these issues and are, therefore, more vulnerable to poor mental health as a consequence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social and Structural Determinants of Health in Migrants and Ethnic Minorities—Conceptual, Methodological, and Empirical Advancement in the Times of COVID-19)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 687 KiB  
Article
Access to Healthcare and Social Protection among Migrant Workers in Thailand before and during COVID-19 Era: A Qualitative Study
by Watinee Kunpeuk, Sataporn Julchoo, Mathudara Phaiyarom, Pigunkaew Sinam, Nareerut Pudpong, Tharani Loganathan, Huso Yi and Rapeepong Suphanchaimat
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(5), 3083; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19053083 - 6 Mar 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4195
Abstract
Thailand is a popular host nation for international migrant workers, particularly those from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. Thailand has introduced approaches to protect their rights for health and social welfare, using various mechanisms over many years. However, the implementation of these policies [...] Read more.
Thailand is a popular host nation for international migrant workers, particularly those from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. Thailand has introduced approaches to protect their rights for health and social welfare, using various mechanisms over many years. However, the implementation of these policies is dynamic and has been influenced by national security, economic necessity, and public health concerns. The aim of this study was to explore how Thailand designs and implements health and social welfare policies for migrants in Thailand, both before and during COVID-19. A qualitative analysis was used alongside interviews with 18 key informants in various sectors in this field. Thematic coding was applied. Results show that there were seven key themes emerging from the analysis, including: (i) sustainability of the HICS; (ii) people dropping out from the Social Security Scheme (SSS); (iii) quality of health screening in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) migrants; (iv) health screening problems and state quarantine management in response to COVID-19; (v) managing the migration quota and dependency on migrant workers; (vi) influx of migrants in the backdrop of COVID-19; and (vii) poor living conditions of migrants and the impact of COVID-19. The majority of interviewees agreed that undocumented migrants is a critical concern that impedes access to migrants’ health and social welfare. This situation was especially pronounced during the second wave of COVID-19 in Thailand, which took hold in migrant communities. In the short term, the poor living conditions of migrants urgently need to be addressed in order to contain and mitigate this crisis. In the long term, there needs to be an improved health system design that includes migrants, regardless of their immigration status. This requires intersectoral policy coherence, including the hastening of nationality verification to sustainably mitigate undocumented migrants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social and Structural Determinants of Health in Migrants and Ethnic Minorities—Conceptual, Methodological, and Empirical Advancement in the Times of COVID-19)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

20 pages, 400 KiB  
Review
The Role of Religions in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
by Leuconoe Grazia Sisti, Danilo Buonsenso, Umberto Moscato, Gianfranco Costanzo and Walter Malorni
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(3), 1691; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031691 - 17 Jan 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3067
Abstract
Culture, religion and health are closely intertwined, profoundly affecting people’s attitudes and behaviors as well as their conception and experience of illness and disease. In order to analyze the impact of religion in the current COVID-19 pandemic, we performed a literature review investigating [...] Read more.
Culture, religion and health are closely intertwined, profoundly affecting people’s attitudes and behaviors as well as their conception and experience of illness and disease. In order to analyze the impact of religion in the current COVID-19 pandemic, we performed a literature review investigating both the scientific and grey literature on the topic. COVID-19 outbreaks reported in pilgrimages and religious ceremonies around the world—especially in the first wave of the pandemic wave—and the role played by religion in conveying culturally sensitive information about COVID-19 are some of the evidence we reviewed. Our research highlights how religions have represented, on the one hand, a risk for the spread of the virus and, on the other, a precious opportunity to engage people, and in particular minorities, in fighting the pandemic. To overcome this pandemic and to be prepared for similar ones in the future, scientists, politicians and health professionals should acknowledge the role that culture and religion play in people’s lives and how it can assist in tackling complex health challenges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social and Structural Determinants of Health in Migrants and Ethnic Minorities—Conceptual, Methodological, and Empirical Advancement in the Times of COVID-19)
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop