“If I get sick here, I will never see my children again”: The mental health of international migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
Journal
PLOS ONE
ISSN
1932-6203
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Kate E. Pickett
Type
Resource Types::text::journal::journal article
URL Institutional Repository
Abstract
<jats:sec id="sec001">
<jats:title>Background</jats:title>
<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the mental health of international migrants globally. Chile has managed its response to the pandemic in an ongoing context of social unrest and combined regional migratory and humanitarian crisis. The country’s population presents a high prevalence of common mental disorders and a high suicide rate, with limited access to mental healthcare. International migrants in Chile represent 8% of the total population, and although a socioeconomically heterogenous group, they face social vulnerability, a range of mental health stressors and additional barriers to access mental healthcare. This study describes the mental health outcomes, stressors, response, and coping strategies perceived by international migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile.</jats:p>
</jats:sec>
<jats:sec id="sec002">
<jats:title>Methods and findings</jats:title>
<jats:p>A qualitative case study was carried out through individual online interviews to 30 international migrants living in Chile during the pandemic and 10 experts of the social and health care sectors. An inductive content analysis was carried out, a process during which the researchers sought to identify patterns and themes derived from the data. Participants experienced mainly negative mental health outcomes, including anxiety and depression symptomatology. Stressors included the virus itself, work, living and socioeconomic conditions, discrimination, fear for their family and distance caring. Institutional responses to address the mental health of international migrants during the pandemic in Chile were limited and participants relied mainly on individual coping strategies.</jats:p>
</jats:sec>
<jats:sec id="sec003">
<jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title>
<jats:p>The pandemic can represent an important opportunity to strengthen mental health systems for the general population as well as for population groups experiencing social vulnerability, if the issues identified and the lessons learned are translated into action at national, regional, and international level. Promoting the mental health of international migrants means recognising migration as a social determinant of mental health and adopting a cross-cultural as well as a Human Rights approach.</jats:p>
</jats:sec>
<jats:title>Background</jats:title>
<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the mental health of international migrants globally. Chile has managed its response to the pandemic in an ongoing context of social unrest and combined regional migratory and humanitarian crisis. The country’s population presents a high prevalence of common mental disorders and a high suicide rate, with limited access to mental healthcare. International migrants in Chile represent 8% of the total population, and although a socioeconomically heterogenous group, they face social vulnerability, a range of mental health stressors and additional barriers to access mental healthcare. This study describes the mental health outcomes, stressors, response, and coping strategies perceived by international migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile.</jats:p>
</jats:sec>
<jats:sec id="sec002">
<jats:title>Methods and findings</jats:title>
<jats:p>A qualitative case study was carried out through individual online interviews to 30 international migrants living in Chile during the pandemic and 10 experts of the social and health care sectors. An inductive content analysis was carried out, a process during which the researchers sought to identify patterns and themes derived from the data. Participants experienced mainly negative mental health outcomes, including anxiety and depression symptomatology. Stressors included the virus itself, work, living and socioeconomic conditions, discrimination, fear for their family and distance caring. Institutional responses to address the mental health of international migrants during the pandemic in Chile were limited and participants relied mainly on individual coping strategies.</jats:p>
</jats:sec>
<jats:sec id="sec003">
<jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title>
<jats:p>The pandemic can represent an important opportunity to strengthen mental health systems for the general population as well as for population groups experiencing social vulnerability, if the issues identified and the lessons learned are translated into action at national, regional, and international level. Promoting the mental health of international migrants means recognising migration as a social determinant of mental health and adopting a cross-cultural as well as a Human Rights approach.</jats:p>
</jats:sec>
Cite this document
Blukacz, A., Cabieses, B., Obach, A., Madrid, P., Carreño, A., Pickett, K. E., & Markkula, N. (2022). “If I get sick here, I will never see my children again”: The mental health of international migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile. PLOS ONE, 17(11), e0277517. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277517
Dataset(s)
Dataset - “If I get sick here, I will never see my children again”: The mental health of international migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile
Subjects
child
;
chile
;
covid-19
;
humans
;
mental health
;
pandemics
;
transients and migrants
;
adult
;
article
;
chile
;
clinical outcome
;
content analysis
;
coping behavior
;
coronavirus disease 2019
;
data analysis
;
depression
;
fear
;
female
;
health care access
;
health care cost
;
health care system
;
health promotion
;
human
;
interview
;
male
;
mental health
;
migrant
;
pandemic
;
physiological stress
;
qualitative research
;
social determinants of health
;
socioeconomics
;
child
;
epidemiology
;
mental health
;
migration
;
pandemic