“Whatever you hide, also hides you”: A discourse analysis on mental health and service use in an American community of Somalis

Michlig, Georgia J.; Johnson‐Agbakwu, Crista; Surkan, Pamela J.

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114563

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In some studies, participants stressed the importance of combining religious faith and biomedical treatment. In one US-based study on mental health within Somali communities, Michlig et al (2021) [ 37 ] observed that participants believed in the value of “both prayer and medical support…during times of injury of disease” (p.6). This belief was expressed through the Somali proverb: “you should trust your God, and tie your camel.” (p.6.)…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For conditions like schizophrenia and sickle cell disease, the quality of support in the private sphere (of family and significant others) was rated higher than support in the public sphere of health and social care services. However, both spheres, as participant narratives showed, were also contested spaces: disease stigma in communities and racial discrimination in healthcare settings, lead to psychological distress and strategies of disclosure that could undermine health outcomes (e.g Michlig et al, 2022 [ 37 ]; Said et al 2021 [ 45 ]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12 [20, 22, 28, 34, 37-39, 42, 43, 50, 52, 53] Combination of general label and national descriptors (e.g., "African-Australians" describing communities of Ethiopian, Sudanese, South Sudanese, Somali heritage) 8 [16,23,24,26,27,32,36,49] Linguistic groups or native language of participants (e.g., Somali Bantu) 3 [22,25,37] Religious affiliation as descriptors (e.g., 'Horn of Africa Muslim men') 1 [43] Generational descriptors (e.g. 1 st generation Somali-Australians) 3 [30,31,45] https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277325.t002…”

Section: Description Of Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How chronic conditions are understood, experienced and managed within African communities in Europe, North America and Australia: A synthesis of qualitative studies

et al. 2023

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This review focuses on the lived experiences of chronic conditions among African communities in the Global North, focusing on established immigrant communities as well as recent immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking communities. We conducted a systematic and narrative synthesis of qualitative studies published from inception to 2022, following a search from nine databases—MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Social Science Citation Index, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, SCOPUS and AMED. 39 articles reporting 32 qualitative studies were included in the synthesis. The studies were conducted in 10 countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States) and focused on 748 participants from 27 African countries living with eight conditions: type 2 diabetes, hypertension, prostate cancer, sickle cell disease, chronic hepatitis, chronic pain, musculoskeletal orders and mental health conditions. The majority of participants believed chronic conditions to be lifelong, requiring complex interventions. Chronic illness impacted several domains of everyday life—physical, sexual, psycho-emotional, social, and economic. Participants managed their illness using biomedical management, traditional medical treatment and faith-based coping, in isolation or combination. In a number of studies, participants took ‘therapeutic journeys’–which involved navigating illness action at home and abroad, with the support of transnational therapy networks. Multi-level barriers to healthcare were reported across the majority of studies: these included individual (changing food habits), social (stigma) and structural (healthcare disparities). We outline methodological and interpretive limitations, such as limited engagement with multi-ethnic and intergenerational differences. However, the studies provide an important insights on a much-ignored area that intersects healthcare for African communities in the Global North and medical pluralism on the continent; they also raise important conceptual, methodological and policy challenges for national health programmes on healthcare disparities.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Description Of Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How chronic conditions are understood, experienced and managed within African communities in Europe, North America and Australia: A synthesis of qualitative studies

et al. 2023

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“…Perhaps in part due to discrimination based on their migrant status and religion, Somali individuals (especially in FGM/Caffected communities) have reported feeling "not normal" and "different" in their Western host country [68] a notion perpetuated by discriminatory public discourse depicting the "barbaric" nature of FGM/C and related cultures [69]. A critical discourse analysis of Somali men and women found that Somalis described experiencing discrimination regarding their Muslim identities and that these experiences had perceived impacts on their use of health services [35]. Moreover, Somalis have been noted to be at increased risk of being targets of discrimination compared to other migrant groups due to the 'triple jeopardy' intersection of being Black, refugees and predominantly Muslim [70].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…partnerships with the Somali community had been cultivated, nurtured, and sustained for nearly 10 years prior to the present CBPR engagement, wherein the community had already been engaged in meaningful community dialogue and educational outreach on FGM/C [30,[33][34][35][36]. Furthermore, health services for FGM/C-affected women and girls had been provided by the first author, who also possessed over 20 years of experience working directly with FGM/C-affected communities and who also delivered cultural sensitivity training to health care providers on engaging with and addressing the unique health care needs of FGM/Caffected communities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health outcomes and female genital mutilation/cutting: how much is due to the cutting itself?

et al. 2023

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While Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) continues to garner global attention, FGM/C-affected migrant communities, who are often racialized minorities in the U.S., face additional challenges which may impact their physical and mental health and well-being. It has been proposed that an overly narrow focus on the female genitalia or FGM/C status alone, while ignoring the wider social experiences and perceptions of affected migrant women, will result in incomplete or misleading conclusions about the relationship between FGM/C and migrant women’s health. A cross-sectional study was conducted across two waves of Somali and Somali Bantu women living in the United States, (n = 879 [wave 1], n = 654 [wave 2]). Socio-demographics, self-reported FGM/C status, perceived psychological distress, and self-reported FGM/C-related health morbidity was examined against self-reported experiences of everyday discrimination and perceived psychosocial support. In statistical models including age and educational attainment as potentially confounding socio-demographic variables, as well as self-reported FGM/C status, self-reported discrimination, and perceived psychosocial support, self-reported discrimination was the variable most strongly associated with poor physical health and psychological distress (i.e., FGM/C-related health morbidity and psychological distress), with greater perceived psychosocial support negatively associated with psychological distress, when controlling for all the other variables in the model. FGM/C status was not significantly associated with either outcome. Discrimination, more frequently reported among ‘No FGM/C’ (i.e., genitally intact or unmodified) women, was most frequently perceived as linked to religion and ethnicity. Our findings are consistent with views that discrimination drives negative outcomes. In this population, discrimination may include the ‘quadruple jeopardy’ of intersecting relationships among gender, race, religion, and migration status. We find that self-reported experiences of discrimination—and not FGM/C status per se—is associated with adverse physical and mental health consequences in our sample drawn from Somali migrant communities living in the United States, and that social support may help to mitigate these consequences. Our findings thus reinforce calls to better contextualize the relationship between FGM/C and measures of health and well-being among Somali women in the United States (regardless of their FGM/C status), taking psychosocial factors more centrally into account.Clinical Trials.Gov ID no. NCT03249649, Study ID no. 5252. Public website: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03249649

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Approaches to Youth Studies and Identity

Yue,

de los Reyes

2023

Handbook of Children and Youth Studies

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“Whatever you hide, also hides you”: A discourse analysis on mental health and service use in an American community of Somalis

Cited by 11 publications

References 29 publications

How chronic conditions are understood, experienced and managed within African communities in Europe, North America and Australia: A synthesis of qualitative studies

How chronic conditions are understood, experienced and managed within African communities in Europe, North America and Australia: A synthesis of qualitative studies

Health outcomes and female genital mutilation/cutting: how much is due to the cutting itself?

Approaches to Youth Studies and Identity

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