IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i4p380-d1361612.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accessibility and Perceived Impact of a Group Psychosocial Intervention for Women in Ecuador: A Comparative Analysis by Migration Status

Author

Listed:
  • Gabrielle Wimer

    (Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA)

  • Maria Larrea

    (Hunter College, New York, NY 10065, USA)

  • Josefina Streeter

    (Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA)

  • Amir Hassan

    (Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA)

  • Alejandra Angulo

    (HIAS, Silver Spring, MD 62471, USA)

  • Andrea Armijos

    (HIAS, Silver Spring, MD 62471, USA)

  • Annie Bonz

    (HIAS, Silver Spring, MD 62471, USA)

  • Wietse A. Tol

    (Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, 1172 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • M. Claire Greene

    (Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA)

Abstract

There is increasing guidance promoting the provision of mental health and psychosocial support programs to both migrant and host community members in humanitarian settings. However, there is a lack of information on the respective experiences and benefits for migrant and host community members who are participating in mental health and psychosocial support programming. We evaluated a community-based psychosocial program for migrant and host community women, Entre Nosotras, which was implemented with an international non-governmental organization in Ecuador in 2021. Data on participant characteristics and psychosocial wellbeing were collected via pre/post surveys with 143 participants, and qualitative interviews were conducted with a subset ( n = 61) of participants. All quantitative analyses were conducted in STATA, and qualitative analysis was done in NVivo. Attendance was higher for host community members. Specifically, 71.4% of host community members attended 4–5 sessions, whereas only 37.4% of migrants attended 4–5 sessions ( p = 0.004). Qualitative analysis shows that the intervention was less accessible for migrants due to a variety of structural barriers. However, this analysis also demonstrated that both groups of women felt a greater sense of social connectedness after participating in the program and expressed gratitude for the bonds they formed with other women. Some migrant women described negative experiences with the host community because they felt as though they could not confide in host community women and speak freely in front of them. These results underscore how the migratory context influences the implementation of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programs. As humanitarian guidelines continue to emphasize the integration of host community members and displaced persons, it is critical to account for how the same intervention may impact these populations differently.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabrielle Wimer & Maria Larrea & Josefina Streeter & Amir Hassan & Alejandra Angulo & Andrea Armijos & Annie Bonz & Wietse A. Tol & M. Claire Greene, 2024. "Accessibility and Perceived Impact of a Group Psychosocial Intervention for Women in Ecuador: A Comparative Analysis by Migration Status," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(4), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:4:p:380-:d:1361612
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/380/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/380/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mathieu J. P. Poirier & Douglas Barraza & C. Susana Caxaj & Ana María Martínez & Julie Hard & Felipe Montoya, 2022. "Informality, Social Citizenship, and Wellbeing among Migrant Workers in Costa Rica in the Context of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-14, May.
    2. Fatin Atrooz & Sally Mohammad Aljararwah & Tzuan A. Chen & Omar F. Khabour & Samina Salim, 2023. "Understanding Mental Health Status of Syrian Refugee and Jordanian Women: Novel Insights from a Comparative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Brian M. Green & Casey A. Hribar & Sara Hayes & Amrita Bhowmick & Leslie Beth Herbert, 2021. "Come for Information, Stay for Support: Harnessing the Power of Online Health Communities for Social Connectedness during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Grove, Natalie J. & Zwi, Anthony B., 2006. "Our health and theirs: Forced migration, othering, and public health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 1931-1942, April.
    5. Kerem Böge & Eric Hahn & Judith Strasser & Stephanie Schweininger & Malek Bajbouj & Carine Karnouk, 2022. "Psychotherapy in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI): Preferences and expectations of the Kurdish host community, internally displaced- and Syrian refugee community," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(2), pages 346-353, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fatemeh Nazifi, 2016. "Development, Immigration, And Social Harms of Iranian Small Towns: A Case Study," Asian Culture and History, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(2), pages 115-115, September.
    2. Synnøve Bendixsen, 2018. "Differentiation of Rights in the Norwegian Welfare State: Hierarchies of Belonging and Humanitarian Exceptionalism," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(3), pages 162-171.
    3. Bozorgmehr, Kayvan & Samuilova, Mariya & Petrova-Benedict, Roumyana & Girardi, Enrico & Piselli, Pierluca & Kentikelenis, Alexander, 2019. "Infectious disease health services for refugees and asylum seekers during a time of crisis: A scoping study of six European Union countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(9), pages 882-887.
    4. Scott, Penelope, 2014. "Black African asylum seekers’ experiences of health care access in an eastern German state," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(3), pages 134-147.
    5. Amelie F. Constant & Teresa García-Muñoz & Shoshana Neuman & Tzahi Neuman, 2018. "A “healthy immigrant effect” or a “sick immigrant effect”? Selection and policies matter," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(1), pages 103-121, January.
    6. Céline Miani & Yudit Namer & Judith Wenner & Oliver Razum, 2017. "Brexit: the country goes, but UK public health principles remain," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(7), pages 717-718, September.
    7. Amalia Gilodi & Catherine Richard & Isabelle Albert & Birte Nienaber, 2023. "The Vulnerability of Young Refugees Living in Reception Centres in Luxembourg: An Overview of Conditions and Experiences across Subjective Temporal Imaginaries," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, February.
    8. Lotte De Schrijver & Elizaveta Fomenko & Barbara Krahé & Kristien Roelens & Tom Vander Beken & Ines Keygnaert, 2022. "Minority Identity, Othering-Based Stress, and Sexual Violence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-19, April.
    9. Willen, Sarah S., 2012. "How is health-related “deservingness” reckoned? Perspectives from unauthorized im/migrants in Tel Aviv," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(6), pages 812-821.
    10. Meyer, Sarah R. & Meyer, Elizabeth & Bangirana, Clare & Mangen, Patrick Onyango & Stark, Lindsay, 2019. "Protection and well-being of adolescent refugees in the context of a humanitarian crisis: Perceptions from South Sudanese refugees in Uganda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 79-86.
    11. Natalia Zotova, 2018. "Religion and Mental Health among Central Asian Muslim Immigrants in Chicago Metropolitan Area," Migration Letters, Migration Letters, vol. 15(3), pages 361-376, July.
    12. Constant, Amelie F. & García-Muñoz, Teresa & Neuman, Shoshana & Neuman, Tzahi, 2014. "Micro and Macro Determinants of Health: Older Immigrants in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 8754, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Oliver Razum & Kayvan Bozorgmehr, 2015. "Disgrace at EU’s external borders," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(5), pages 515-516, July.
    14. Quinn, Katherine & Bowleg, Lisa & Dickson-Gomez, Julia, 2019. "“The fear of being Black plus the fear of being gay”: The effects of intersectional stigma on PrEP use among young Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 86-93.
    15. Lebrun, Lydie A., 2012. "Effects of length of stay and language proficiency on health care experiences among Immigrants in Canada and the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(7), pages 1062-1072.
    16. Huschke, Susann, 2014. "Performing deservingness. Humanitarian health care provision for migrants in Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 352-359.
    17. James Smith, 2016. "Thinking beyond borders: reconceptualising migration to better meet the needs of people in transit," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 61(5), pages 521-522, June.
    18. Pinillos-Franco, Sara & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2022. "Hostile attitudes toward immigrants and refugees are associated with poor self-rated health. Analysis of 21 European countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    19. Viruell-Fuentes, Edna A. & Miranda, Patricia Y. & Abdulrahim, Sawsan, 2012. "More than culture: Structural racism, intersectionality theory, and immigrant health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2099-2106.
    20. Aldrich, Rosemary & Zwi, Anthony B. & Short, Stephanie, 2007. "Advance Australia Fair: Social democratic and conservative politicians' discourses concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their health 1972-2001," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 125-137, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:4:p:380-:d:1361612. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.