Attitudes among working professionals toward immigrants and refugees living in Ecuador: Impacts on health and well‐being

Abstract

ObjectiveTo explore attitudes toward immigrants and refugees living in Ecuador.Design and MeasuresA transnationalism framework informed this qualitative study, which utilized a semi‐structured interview guide to elicit responses from participants about their attitudes toward immigrants and refugees. Interviews were conducted in Spanish, audio‐taped, transcribed, coded, and analyzed in Spanish to identify emergent themes. Demographic data were analyzed using SPSS.SampleParticipants (n = 50) were recruited from five sectors that interact with refugees: health care, the press, the police, nongovernmental organizations, and education. Fifty interviews were conducted with adults in Quito, Ecuador, in 2017.ResultsParticipants reported concerns about the health and well‐being of immigrants and refugees, expressed a willingness to assist them, but within limits, noted discrimination and bias against refugees, and cited social policies and human rights as factors that influenced their attitudes.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that immigrants and refugees face challenges which impact their health and well‐being, according to participants in the study. Social policies can influence attitudes, but are also affected by rapidly shifting immigration patterns. Migration flows in South America is an under‐studied area of research, with opportunity for further public health nursing inquiry.

Exploring the impact of Ecuador’s policies on the right to health of Venezuelan migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

“…, 2020 ). Furthermore, in Ecuador and Peru, Venezuelans are often stigmatized as carriers of diseases like human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted diseases ( Dressel et al. , 2020 ; Irons, 2022 ).…”

“…Although migrants have explicit rights in Ecuador’s legal framework (Constitution and LOMH), there are several obstacles in the application, protection and promotion of such rights at the practical level. There are instances where the protection and rights of migrants have been only partially covered, with other policies/initiatives overriding the legal framework ( Dressel et al. , 2020 ; Mantilla, 2020 ; Mazza, 2020 ; Molina et al.…”

“…The literature also identified mental health as a concern for migrants, who are vulnerable to experiences that result in higher risks of poor mental health in the form of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder compared with host populations ( Carroll et al. , 2020 ; Dressel et al. , 2020 ; Torres et al , 2022 ).…”

“…In the case of both COVID-19 and malaria, migrants were viewed as carriers of these infectious diseases. Such beliefs increase stigmatization, resulting in additional discrimination and exclusion ( Dressel et al. , 2020 ; Mantilla, 2020 ; Padrón, 2020 ; Riggirozzi et al , 2020 ; Herrera Mosquera and Martinez, 2021 ; McDonald, 2021 ; Irons, 2022 ; WHO, 2022 ).…”

Experiences of Providers and Immigrants/Refugees with Health Care: A Meta-Synthesis of the Latin American Context

“…Providers and immigrants/refugees recognize that there are potential conflictual factors that may reflect on their interaction during care provision. Among these factors are the difficulty in communicating due to the language barrier (Aizenberg, 2019;Barbosa et al, 2020;Barreto et al, 2019;Carneiro-Junior et al, 2018;Cruz-Riveros et al, 2022;Delamuta et al, 2020;Losco & Gemma, 2021;Motizuki et al, 2019;Ramírez-Santana et al, 2019), the prejudice/xenophobia present in the actions of providers (Aizenberg, 2019;Aizenberg et al, 2015;Barreto et al, 2019;Delamuta et al, 2020;Dressel et al, 2020;Duden & Martins-Borges, 2021;Haydu et al, 2020;Losco & Gemma, 2021;Rubio et al, 2021;Shedlin et al, 2014), the difficulty in recognizing the other's culture (Aizenberg, 2019;Aizenberg et al, 2015;Barreto et al, 2019;Carneiro-Junior et al, 2018;Losco & Gemma, 2021;Motizuki et al, 2019;Pinto et al, 2019), and the differences in health/disease perceptions that exist among different countries (Carneiro-Junior et al, 2018). Furthermore, some providers perceive immigrants/refugees as a "burden for the health system" and as an "epidemiological problem" for the host country (Concha & Mansilla, 2017), and their presence can "saturate health services" due to high demand (Dressel et al, 2020;Ramírez-Santana et al, 2019).…”