Migrant Health Case Study

Half of all Australians will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime, with around 20% affected every year by conditions such as depression and anxiety.

The film Clinica de Migrantes overall showed the injustice that immigrants face when they come to America. There is the belief that some people have of America being the melting pot where different groups of people can come together and become one. However, that belief is not true and Clinica de Migrantes further reiterated that. The film showed that there is not a concern for undocumented immigrants in regards to their health care and wellbeing. In the film, there was a patient who had a colostomy bag inserted in the emergency room and the bag was just left on him; because he did not have insurance to be properly cared for.

Culture is a common ground of group of people sharing ideas, beliefs, values and behaviour which is not restricted to ethnicity (Fanany, 2012). Australia is one of the most culturally diverse countries across the world who have their own cultural and social aspects of life. There exist various factors that influences the health of different cultural groups which includes social gradient, social exclusion, unemployment and addiction (Wilkinson & Mormot, 2003). Among the various cultural and ethnic groups, this case study highlights the aspects determining the health and its risks in Chinese-Australian and Homeless-Australian youths’ community and the strategies overcoming those risks. It reviews the literature on the social determinants causing health risks in the specific cultural groups and suggests the best possible approaches dealing with the health problems associated with them.

Research indicates that immigrant groups are likely to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) at varying degrees irrespective of whether they are voluntary migrants or refugees. However, refugees are known to suffer higher rates of mental health disorders ranging from PSTD to depression (Rasmussen et al., 2012). It is also known that refugees are likely to have more pre-migration risk for trauma than voluntary immigrants. Even though most refugees flee their home countries to reduce the risk of distress, research indicates that the well-being of such immigrants deteriorates with increasing time spent in the host countries

The article by Shelley Davis (2001) analyzed farmworkers access to health care. It has been reported that approximately only five percent of migrant farmworkers receive health insurance from their employers (U.S Department of Labor, 2000). This article focused on giving a snapshot of farmworkers healthcare struggles. Specifically, educating the public on farmworkers inability to access healthcare for themselves or their closest kin. The fact that their employment is labeled as a high-risk and dangerous of either injury or illness and the inability of their employer to provide health care for these workers puts these migrant workers in a predicament. Often times they need to go without healthcare because of the lack of coverage, money, or time.

Due to socioeconomic, cultural, and, after the past few election cycles in the United States, political adversity that immigrants have to endure, it is not surprising that some immigrant populations, namely the working poor, manifest various mental health issues at higher rates than the rest of the population. According to much research, "evidence is overwhelming that certain immigrant groups. . . suffer a greater incidence of schizophrenia" also noting that the "risk increases with length of residence in the host country and the risk is even more severe in the second generation" (Whitley 1073). There are a number of pre-migratory, post-migratory factors that also include factors associated with the process of migration that most likely increase the incidence of mental health issues in immigrants, namely persecution, poverty, violence, famine, drought and other traumatic events that in addition to potentially arduous journeys to reach their destination and post-migratory factors included in the term "marginalization" that make it easy to see why immigrants would have a higher incidence of psychopathology like schizophrenia, developmental disorders in children, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety (Whitley 1073). Many of these issues compound after migration has taken place to manifest what has been called "social defeat." According to Whitley, "social defeat is an umbrella term that refers to various sociocultural (and economic) acute events and

Racism in Australia has always been a controversial element of our country and still continues on in today’s society. Our nation is a bigot country, and the history of Australia shows it continuously has been. Racism majorly impacts the health of Indigenous Australians. The impacts reflect on the life expectancy and mental health of the Indigenous Australians who are then racially criticised in our health system. This paper will explore the impacts that racism in Australia has on Indigenous Australians within healthcare, the life expectancy and the mental health.

This study examines two important aspects of the mental and physical health of immigrants and this was referred to as the ‘healthy immigrant effect’. The article compares the mental health of immigrants and minorities in Canada to those who are Canadian (native born), or were brought to Canada at a young age. It shows that the mental health of Asians and Blacks was significantly better compared to their native born Canadian counterparts. Latin American men were also found to have better mental health compared to their native born Canadian counterparts. Even though mental health declines the longer they reside in Canada, evidence has suggested that living among your community is a factor that helps immigrants’ mental health. The weakness in

There are multiple barriers that prevent recent immigrants to Canada from accessing mental health services including culture, stigma, and affordability. One of the barriers that prevents immigrants from seeking mental health services is language proficiency (Ohtani, Suzuki, Takeuchi, & Ochida, 2015). Language barriers and their implications on mental health care will be reviewed. Brisset et al. (2013) highlights the importance of dialogue between the health care practitioner and the client receiving care. This inhibits the practitioner’s ability to form a diagnosis, and to collaboratively decide on a course of treatment. Recent immigrants and refugees have a higher likelihood to suffer from psychiatric disorders (Brisset et al, 2013).

Better research on immigrant health and health outcomes would go a long way to shining a light on how to tackle these problems. The current debate in the research concentrates on social determinants of health such as acculturation, which of course influences a lot of other health and healthcare decisions made by immigrants. However, only focusing on social determinants of health undermines the importance of other factors that also heavily affect immigrant health in the United States. Specifically in the case of undocumented immigrants, the debate need to focus on systemic issues impeding access to healthcare as well as pre and post migratory social, political, and economic factors. Some examples that Martinez et al listed include, “specific environmental conditions such as pollution and contamination of water, as well as pre-and-post migration experiences ranging from rape, sexual assault, and abuse to extortion and several other specific geopolitical and economic factors” (966). Social strife, political persecution or famines are real problems that can affect an individuals’ health and specifically their mental health for the rest of their lives. Torres et al urge “those involved in public health research, policy, and practice” to

New immigrants expect and usually face numerous challenges prior to and after arriving at their new home country. A recent comprehensive review of the health of immigrant youth in Canada revealed that immigrant youth experiences stress as they leave familiar settings behind and struggle to acculturate to their new country of residence (Salehi, 2010). Research has shown that immigrant youth have higher rates of mental health issues related to negative migration expeirences. In addition, immgirants are at an increased risk for secondary school dropout as they face greater obstacles compared to native youh in academic success (Anisef, Brown, Phythian, Sweet, & Walters, 2010). Thus, there is a need to aid immigrant youth in its transition and assimilation process to reduce the likelihood of negative

Mental health is a person’s emotional and physiological well-being; some immigrants come to the country hoping for an easier and happier life, however, this is not always the case. As stated previously in lecture, assimilating to a new language, new food, and different cultural norms can be mentally draining. Experiences like exposure to war, death of loved ones, violence, oppression, and torture will likely make one mentally unstable and further complicates the resettlement process. The process of assimilating into a new cultural is mentally taxing to the soul, you are having to throw away all that you know and create a facade in order to be accepted. In my opinion, refugees and immigrants display poor mental health on arrival due to a combination

Changes in physical health are often related to changes in emotional and mental health. Chronic illnesses have significant life changing adjustments that affect individual’s psychical, social, and emotional functioning (Billings and Moos, 1981). This paper will provide an assessment, develop a treatment plan, discuss therapeutic interventions, and deliberate resource coordination for a Spanish speaking migrant family who follows the crop cycles with a member dealing with uncontrolled diabetes. This paper assumes the Lopez family is currently in Sonoma Valley.

It is well-known that the health issue of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been constantly discussed and analysed up to the present. Indigenous Australian experience poorer health outcome compare to other population in Australian, and also they experienced significantly higher rates of mental illness within their communities, and the suicide rate approximately more than double higher than for the general population (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,2009). The purpose of this essay is to discuss the factor that associated with higher rate of mental illness and suicide behavior regard to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the concept of cultural, social and emotional well-being that triggers this phenomenon.

Firstly is exclusion, large-scale studies tend to exclude certain groups because of language barriers and lack of interpretation being provided meaning that comprehensive data cannot be collected. Secondly, there is uneven attention apparent as research focuses mostly on certain ethnic groups causing the external validity of the research findings to be questioned. With the participant sample being limited it is difficult to be able to generalise finding to such a diverse client group. Finally, it has been identified that many studies consist of a lack of attention to cultural differences in that the standardised instruments being used are based on experiences of the mainstream population and may not be relevant to immigrant populations or may be interpreted differently by different groups. These limitations make applying these finding to a client groups with such different experience variations difficult, and doesn’t consider the diverse range of people that have immigrated to the