Illuminating health aspects for immigrant Thai women in Swedish transnational marriages

Abstract

Abstract Background: Women who are migrants experience discrimination and face major risks, including sexual exploitation, trafficking, and violence, which all affect their health and well-being. This study explored critical health incidents resulting from marriage migration and the consequences experienced by immigrant Thai women in everyday life. Methods: A qualitative explorative approach with in-depth interviews was used. Forty immigrant Thai women who currently or previously had a Swedish spouse were recruited for the study. An inductive critical incident technique was used to collect and analyze the data as the first step. In a second deductive step, the Newman system model was used when categorizing health dilemmas. Results: The women reported 438 critical health incidents in five main areas: psychological health dilemmas included emotional abuse, feeling overwhelmed due to family responsibilities and the stress of leaving family behind. Sociocultural health dilemmas included transnational family duties or not performing family duties. Physiological health dilemmas included experiencing physical violence and environmental, domestic or work accidents. Developmental health dilemmas included failing health, difficulties in upholding the duties expected of a spouse in the target culture and caring for an elderly husband. Spiritual health dilemmas included critical incidents in which the women perceived themselves to have failed in their hopes and duties as a wife, which intensified their dependence on faith, particularly the Buddhist concept of karma. Conclusion: The health and welfare practices that are included in marriage migration practices in Thailand and western countries, along with civil organizations such as Buddhist cultural associations in foreign countries that support immigrants, would benefit from the multicultural knowledge revealed by the present study. If accepted, this knowledge could facilitate healthcare and welfare support for women experiencing marriage migration.