Although a number of studies have investigated the predictors of employment among refugee migrants, there is a dearth of evidence from longitudinal data. This study investigated the cross‐sectional ...and longitudinal predictors of employment among 233 adult refugee men living in South‐East Queensland, Australia. Participants were interviewed four times at six‐month intervals between 2008 and 2010. Using a conceptual model developed from the literature, Generalized Estimating Equations were used to model the predictors of employment. Over time, the employment rate increased from 44 per cent to 56 per cent. Region of birth, length of time in Australia, seeking employment through job service providers and informal networks, and owning a car were significant predictors of employment. Contrary to previous research, English language proficiency was not a significant predictor when other variables were controlled for. Recognition of overseas skills and qualifications decreased the chances of finding employment. The policy and programme implications are discussed.
Policy Implications
Recognition of refugee migrants' overseas‐gained skills and qualifications does not guarantee them securing employment.
Recognition of overseas skills and qualifications should be accompanied by educating employers, especially those outside the traditional migrant employment ‘niches’, about the resources and capabilities of refugee migrants, and the value of their qualifications.
Fostering programmes that target the needs of job seekers from refugee backgrounds could enhance their employment outcomes.
Supporting refugee migrants getting their drivers' licence and establishing favourable loan programmes that enable refugee migrants to buy a car can have a positive impact on their workforce participation.
Food is intrinsically linked to culture, identity, and for people with lived refugee experiences, cultural foods are a critical part of settlement into a new country, which is often a time of high ...stress and dislocation from friends and family. However, cultural foods in settlement countries may be unavailable or inaccessible, adversely impacting on food security. This systematic review aimed to identify facilitators and barriers to accessing foods in high-income countries for people with lived refugee experiences. Sixteen health databases were searched from June 2020 and April 2021 and 22 articles met the inclusion criteria. Bias was assessed using a modified thematic synthesis method and the relevant Joanna Briggs Institute risk assessment checklist. Findings were thematically synthesised and the socio-ecological model and postcolonialism were used as a lens through which the data was viewed. Analysis revealed three themes: "Practicalities and Pragmatism"; "Identity, Belonging and Placemaking"; and "Postcolonial and Societal Influences". The determinants of food security were present across all levels of the socio-ecological model and people with lived refugee experiences used practical and pragmatic strategies to feed their families. Food was intrinsically linked to identity, belonging and placemaking, and as such, people preferred consuming cultural foods. Societies adversely affected the food security of people from refugee backgrounds by limiting their access to resources and restricting cultural food gathering practices, impacting on their ability to access or afford foods, especially cultural foods. To improve food security for people with lived refugee backgrounds, governments and organisations should collaborate with the cultural communities with lived experiences of accessing cultural foods, appreciate their strengths, and recognise the value of social and cultural capital.
Abstract
This qualitative study investigated the refugee journey of 17 males who arrived in Australia as unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors between 2009 and 2013, and were granted protection visas. ...The article focuses on the four conceptual challenges of refugee journeys, as identified recently by BenEzer and Zetter: temporal characteristics; drivers and destinations; the process/content of the journey; and the characteristics of the wayfarers. The findings indicate that their mental journey has not yet ended and transcends the physical departure–arrival voyage. Although the primary drivers for the refugee journey were protection reasons, their desire to find a ‘better life’ free from violence and exclusion also played an important role. The irregular character of the journey made it highly unpredictable, exposed these minors to extreme levels of vulnerability and the need to remain invisible, prompted short-lived friendships with other asylum seekers, and created a pervasive feeling of mistrust towards smugglers and other people they met along the way. The study has highlighted the need for interventions to protect unaccompanied minors during their refugee journey.
Issue addressed
To compare the level of cervical screening uptake between refugee and non‐refugee African immigrant women living in Brisbane, Australia, and examine factors associated with Pap smear ...testing.
Methods
Cross‐sectional survey with a convenience sample of 254 women aged 21–62 years from 22 African countries (144 refugees, 110 non‐refugees). Chi‐square tests were used to compare the demographic and health‐related characteristics between refugee and non‐refugee women. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between the outcome variable (Pap smear testing) and the independent variables.
Results
Two‐thirds of women had used Pap smear services in Australia. Chi‐square test analysis established that non‐refugee women were significantly more likely to have used Pap smear services than refugee women (73.6% vs 61.8% respectively; P = 0.047). Immigration status, however, was not a significant predictor of cervical screening uptake in the multiple regression analyses. The significant predictors for screening uptake in these analyses were work arrangement, parity, healthcare visit, knowledge about Pap smear and perceived susceptibility to cervical cancer.
Conclusion
Most women relied on opportunistic screening after receiving invitation letters to screen or after visiting health professionals for antenatal or postnatal care.
So what?
The findings suggest that organised cervical screening programs are not reaching most African immigrant women living in Brisbane. It is incumbent on the public health sector, including healthcare professionals and settlement agencies working with African communities, to develop health promotion strategies that meaningfully engage African immigrant women, including those from refugee backgrounds, to enhance their knowledge about cervical cancer and screening practices.
Regular cervical screening has lessened the burden of cervical cancer in developed countries; however, access to these practices is not readily available in these countries. This study examined screening practices among refugee and non‐refugee women from Africa living in Brisbane. The evidence will help to develop screening interventions that meaningfully engage African immigrant women to enhance screening practices.
Despite increasing numbers of refugee women-at-risk being resettled and their potential vulnerability, there exists no empirical research into the psychiatric health of this unique subgroup with ...which to guide policy and practice. This research aimed to investigate psychiatric symptom status of a sample of refugee women-at-risk recently resettled in Australia, as well as factors contributing to symptoms of trauma, anxiety, depression, and somatization. The level of psychiatric symptomatology is compared to reference groups of women from Sudan and Burma, who entered Australia under the Humanitarian Entry Programme, and who did not meet criteria as women-at-risk.
This is a cross-sectional survey of 104 refugee women-at-risk across several ethnic groups including a demographic questionnaire, the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, Post-migration Living Difficulties Checklist, and Hopkins Symptom Checklist to assess individual factors, traumatic experiences, post-migration problems, and symptoms of trauma, anxiety, depression, and somatization. A series of multiple hierarchical regression analyses examined factors predicting psychiatric symptoms.
Substantial proportions of participants reported psychiatric distress in symptomatic ranges, including for traumatization (41%), post-traumatic stress disorder (20%), anxiety (29%), and depression (41%), as well as significant symptoms of somatization (41%). These findings are significantly higher than those derived from reference groups of women from Sudan or Burma, resettled in the same area and utilizing a similar methodology. Higher numbers of trauma events and post-migration living difficulties predicted higher trauma, depression, and somatic (but not anxiety) symptoms. Having children predicted higher trauma, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. Greater English fluency predicted higher anxiety symptoms. Region of birth predicted anxiety and depression symptoms. Age predicted trauma and anxiety symptoms.
Findings suggest that recently arrived refugee women-at-risk are at high risk of psychiatric disorders. The results indicate a need for comprehensive psychiatric assessment to identify women in need of treatment very early after resettlement, with implications for medical practice, service delivery, and policy programs.
In this article, we explore the return visits of resettled young people from refugee backgrounds to their personal and/or ancestral countries of origin. We draw on qualitative data from a ...longitudinal study of people who fled their country of origin at an early age, many of whom were born or lived for protracted periods in countries of asylum, and resettled in Australia. We demonstrate that return visits are not simply a homecoming; the young people's narratives reflect ambivalent relationships to the homeland experienced across multiple domains of belonging. Accounts of return visits refer to three core domains of belonging – practical national belonging, family connection, and attachment to material places. We argue that a return visit gives these youths a valued opportunity to negotiate and develop their homeland connections, though not necessarily an unambiguous opportunity to belong.
Cultural food security is crucial for cultural health and, for people from refugee backgrounds, supports the settlement journey. Cultural communities are vital in facilitating access to cultural ...foods; however, it is not understood how refugee-background communities sustain cultural food security in the Australian context. This study aimed to explore key roles in refugee-background communities to understand why they were important and how they facilitate cultural food security.
Interviews were conducted by community researchers, and data analysis was undertaken using best-practice framework for collaborative data analysis.
Greater Brisbane, Australia.
Six interviews were conducted between August and December 2022 with people from a refugee-background community, lived in Greater Brisbane and who fulfilled a key food role in the community that facilitated access to cultural foods.
Fostering improved cultural food security supported settlement by creating connections across geographical locations and cultures and generated a sense of belonging that supported the settlement journey. Communities utilised communication methods that prioritised the knowledge, wisdom and experience of community members. It also provided community members with influence over their foodways. Community leaders had an ethos that reflected collectivist values, where community needs were important for their own health and well-being.
Communities are inherently structured and communicate in a way that allows collective agency over foodways. This agency promotes cultural food security and is suggestive of increased food sovereignty. Researchers and public health workers should work with communities and recognise community strengths. Food security interventions should target cultural food security and autonomy.
Objective: To investigate risk and protective factors for medically serious suicide attempts among young Australian adults.
Method: The study used a case–control design. A clinical sample of 18–24 ...year olds was recruited via the emergency department of a large public hospital following a suicide attempt (n = 95) and was compared to a sample of 18–24 year olds who participated in a population‐based survey (n = 380).
Results: Risk factors for medically serious suicide attempts included early school leaving, parental divorce (males only), distress due to problems with parents (females only), distress due to problems with friends, distress due to the break‐up of a romantic relationship, tobacco use, high alcohol use, current depressive symptomatology and a previous diagnosis of depression. Protective factors included social connectedness, problem‐solving confidence and locus of control. There was a trend for social connectedness to be more protective among those with high rather than low levels of depressive symptomatology, and among smokers rather than non‐smokers.
Conclusions: Results are discussed in terms of designing evidence‐based suicide prevention activities for young adults.
To investigate whether hospital utilisation and health outcomes in Victoria differ between people born in refugee-source countries and those born in Australia.
Analysis of a statewide hospital ...discharge dataset for the 6 financial years from 1 July 1998 to 30 June 2004. Hospital admissions of people born in eight countries for which the majority of entrants to Australia arrived as refugees were included in the analysis.
Age-standardised rates and rate ratios for: total hospital admissions; emergency admissions; surgical admissions; total days in hospital; discharge at own risk; hospital deaths; admissions due to infectious and parasitic diseases; and admissions due to mental and behavioural disorders.
In 2003-04, compared with the Australia-born Victorian population, people born in refugee-source countries had lower rates of surgical admission (rate ratio RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.81-0.88), total days in hospital (RR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.73-0.75), and admission due to mental and behavioural disorders (RR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.65-0.76). Over the 6-year period, rates of total days in hospital and rates of admission due to mental and behavioural disorders for people born in refugee-source countries increased towards Australian-born averages, while rates of total admissions, emergency admissions, and admissions due to infectious and parasitic diseases increased above the Australian-born averages.
Use of hospital services among people born in refugee-source countries is not higher than that of the Australian-born population and shows a trend towards Australian-born averages. Our findings indicate that the Refugee and Humanitarian Program does not currently place a burden on the Australian hospital system.
PDF
