Studies across countries emphasizes that communication barriers can severely hinder access to health care services by migrants, leading to health inequities. The aim of this explorative research was to gain a deeper understanding of migrants’ perspectives on public health communication in Jönköping, Sweden. Empirical data has been gathered through multicultural focus groups with migrants from countries outside Europe, living in the county of Jönköping. The data has been analyzed using Braun & Clarke’s six step model for thematic analysis and from the theoretical framework of a Culture-Centered Approach to health communication, as presented by Mohan Dutta. The findings revealed communication barriers that hinder groups of migrants from accessing the public health communication and advice for improvement that could increase access and trust. The Swedish language, low digital use and limited digital skills as well as low trust towards the Swedish system are prominent obstacles that affect the communication processes in different layers. The participants express the need for a more flexible health system to increase access and prefer communication in native language verbally or printed. For those who use digital health communication, they want the Region to search engine-optimize in their native languages to ease the process of finding the right sources. Furthermore, authoritarian doctors as messengers of health communication are preferred. The health communication participants have received from the Region’s health communicators in their native language is presented to be a tool for increased trust and understanding. Their methods enable a participatory communication flow. To continue the development of participatory communication activities can be one way of combating the barriers faced by some groups of migrants. It is clear that a “one size fits all-communication approach”, with a focus on digital Swedish public health communication does not succeed to reach this target group. The communication barriers need to be understood from an organizational perspective. It is essential that migrants are invited to influence strategies, innovations and systems. In order to reduce the health gap, the Region needs to listen actively to migrants and engage them to co-create solutions that promote access and trust.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-68409 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Boij, Cecilia |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Institutionen för konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Studies in Arts and Communication, 1652-0343 |
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