Perspective of Immigrants on Personal and Family Integration in Brazilian Society

Abstract

Objective: to describe the experiences of immigrants and their families related to integration in Brazil. Method: this is a descriptive study, with a qualitative approach, carried out in a municipality in southern Brazil. The informants were 13 immigrants who had lived in Brazil between six months and five years and who were able to communicate in Portuguese, English or Spanish. Data were collected between May and November 2021, through semi-structured interviews, audio-recorded and subjected to thematic content analysis. Results: the 13 participants were aged between 27 and 65 years (mean age 36 years), nine of whom were women, seven from Venezuela and the others from countries in South, Central America and Africa. Three categories emerged which show the adversities experienced, especially in relation to jobs (low wages, labor exploitation, non-recognition of academic titles), communication difficulties and distance from family. On the other hand, they also show satisfaction with public safety, health care and the possibility of personal and professional development. To maintain family unity and their origins, people in an immigration situation financially help members who could not migrate, make typical foods and use the native language in the home environment. Conclusion: integration into Brazilian society is permeated by challenges, namely the absence/distance from family of origin and/or constituted, lack of understanding of language, work and financial problems and social support network weakness. However, immigrants seek to maintain an adequate family functioning based on the support of institutions and the maintenance of the culture of origin.

Challenges of nursing research with immigrant and refugee populations: methodological and pragmatic considerations

“…According to this technique, people with certain common characteristics are connected to a social network, made up of ties, and are therefore more easily identified by another member of the cultural community than by researchers ( 16 ) . This technique, despite being non-probabilistic, has achieved good results in reaching samples for quantitative ( 11 ) and qualitative studies with immigrants ( 3 , 15 ) .…”

“…A sensitive look at the light of TCCDU is the same as saying a “culturally congruent look”. In this respect, it is necessary to consider that the family, and not just the individual migrant in isolation, has been the focus of some studies ( 3 , 19 ) and, in these cases, the view needs to be expanded beyond the individual cultural aspect. It is necessary to consider, for example, that for Haitians, especially among refugees, there is the concept of “community families”, which are not restricted to spouses and their children.…”

“…There is no room for doubt that immigrants and refugees are a particularly vulnerable group as they experience several factors (past and current) that determine their health condition. Poverty, lack of employment, low educational levels, precarious housing conditions, food insecurity, among others, are the main obstacles in the process of integration into a new society ( 3 ) . Furthermore, they face linguistic, cultural, social, political, and economic barriers – which result in greater morbidity and mortality – making immigrants and refugees over-reliant on social assistance and health services ( 4 ) .…”

“…Given the complexity of the phenomenon of migration and its consequences on the political, cultural and economic aspects of contemporary societies, this theme appears as recurrent in the scientific-academic context ( 3 ) . A major focus of current nursing literature addresses health-illness issues of immigrants and refugees, including quality of life ( 8 ) , mental health ( 9 , 10 ) , pregnancy and birth ( 8 ) , and health care within the scope of Primary Care ( 11 ) , of emergencies ( 12 ) , and hospitals ( 9 ) .…”

“…A major focus of current nursing literature addresses health-illness issues of immigrants and refugees, including quality of life ( 8 ) , mental health ( 9 , 10 ) , pregnancy and birth ( 8 ) , and health care within the scope of Primary Care ( 11 ) , of emergencies ( 12 ) , and hospitals ( 9 ) . Such studies have adopted different theoretical-methodological approaches, such as exploratory ( 8 ) , cross-sectional ( 13 ) , and descriptive ( 9 , 10 ) designs, and qualitative ( 3 , 9 , 12 ) , quantitative ( 10 – 13 ) , and mixed methods ( 8 , 11 ) approaches. Nevertheless, for decades there have been a series of challenges (especially for novice researchers) associated with research on the topic of immigrant and refugee’s health ( 14 ) , without, however, making an in-depth discussion about the methodological and pragmatic perspectives regarding the best strategies to promote research and enhance the current nursing scientific production in the field of migration studies.…”