nach oben

International Journal of Public Health

Erschienen in:

09.11.2015 | Original Article

Climate-driven migration: an exploratory case study of Maasai health perceptions and help-seeking behaviors

verfasst von: Alexandra K. Heaney, Sandra J. Winter

Erschienen in: International Journal of Public Health | Ausgabe 6/2016

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten

Abstract

Objectives

By 2050, over 250 million people will be displaced from their homes by climate change. This exploratory case study examines how climate-driven migration impacts the health perceptions and help-seeking behaviors of Maasai in Tanzania. Increasing frequency and intensity of drought is killing livestock, forcing Maasai to migrate from their rural homelands to urban centers in search of ways to support their families. Little existing research investigates how this migration changes the way migrants think about health and make healthcare decisions.

Methods

This study used semi-structured qualitative interviews to explore migrant and non-migrant beliefs surrounding health and healthcare. Migrant and non-migrant participants were matched on demographic characteristics and location.

Results

Migrants emphasized the importance of mental health in their overall health perceptions, whereas non-migrants emphasized physical health. Although non-migrants perceived more barriers to accessing healthcare, migrant and non-migrant help-seeking behaviors were similar in that they only sought help for physical health problems, and utilized hospitals as a last option.

Conclusions

These findings have implications for improving Maasai healthcare utilization, and for future research targeting other climate-driven migrant populations in the world.

Nur mit Berechtigung zugänglich

Andersen R (1995) Revisiting the behavioral model and access to medical care: does it matter? J Health Soc Behav 36:1–10CrossRefPubMed

Bailis DS, Segall A, Chipperfield JG (2003) Two views of self-rated general health status. Soc Sci 56:203–217

Bernard H, Ryan G (1998) Text analysis: qualitative and quantitative methods. In: Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology. Rowman & Littlefield, London

Bhugra D (2004) Migration and mental health. Acta Psychiatr Scand 109:243–258CrossRefPubMed

Biermann F, Boas I (2010) Preparing for a warmer world: towards a global governance system to protect climate refugees. Glob Environ Polit 10:60–88CrossRef

Biswas-Diener R, Vittersø J, Diener E (2005) Most people are pretty happy, but there is cultural variation: the Inughuit, the Amish, and the Maasai. J Happiness Stud 6:205–226CrossRef

Christakis N, Ware N, Kleinman A (1994) Illness behavior and the health transition in the developing world. In: Chan LC, Kleinman A, Ware N (eds) Health and social change in international perspective. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 275–302

Coast E (2002) Maasai socioeconomic conditions: a cross-border comparison. Hum Ecol 30:79–105CrossRef

Confalonieri U, Menne B, Akhtar R et al (2007) Human health. In: Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge. Cambridge, UK, pp 391–431

Cornally N, McCarthy G (2011) Help-seeking behaviour: a concept analysis. Int J Nurs Pract 17:280–288. doi:10.1111/j.1440-172X.2011.01936.x CrossRefPubMed

Corrigan P (2004) How stigma interferes with mental health care. Am Psychol 59:614–625CrossRefPubMed

Friel S, Hancock T, Kjellstrom T, McGranahan G, Monge P, Roy J (2011) Urban health inequities and the added pressure of climate change: an action-oriented research agenda. J Urban Health 88(5):886–895. doi:10.1007/s11524-011-9607-0 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Gary F (2005) Stigma: barrier to mental health care among ethnic minorities. Issues Ment Health Nurs 26:979–999CrossRefPubMed

Glaser B (1965) The constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. Soc Probl 12:436–445CrossRef

Gollwitzer PM, Oettingen G (1998) The emergence and implementation of health goals. Psychol Health 13:687–715. doi:10.1080/08870449808407424 CrossRef

Jeacocke P (2010) Environmental refugees: a new concept for the current day?

Jylhä M (2009) What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model. Soc Sci Med 69:307–316. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.05.013 CrossRefPubMed

Kapborg I, Berterö C (2002) Using an interpreter in qualitative interviews: does it threaten validity? Nurs Inq 9:52–56CrossRef

Kroeger A (1983) Anthropological and socio-medical health care research in developing countries. Soc Sci Med 17:147–161. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(83)90248-4 CrossRefPubMed

Leventhal H, Brissete I, Leventhal E (2003) The common sense model of self-regulation of health and illness. The self-regulation of health and illness behavior. Taylor & Francis Group, New York, pp 42–66

McKay L, Macintyre S, Ellaway A (2003) Migration and health: a review of the international literature. Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow

McLeman R, Hunter L (2010) Migration in the context of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change: insights from analogues. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Clim Change 1:450–461CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

McMichael C, Barnett J, McMichael AJ (2012) An ill wind? Climate change, migration and health. Environ Health Perspect 120:646–654CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Miles M, Huberman A, Saldaña J (2013) Qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook

National Bureau of Statistics (2012) Statistics for development. In: 2012 Census Publ. http://www.nbs.go.tz. Accessed 19 Mar 2015

Papadopoulos I, Lay M (2003) The impact of migration on health beliefs and behaviours: the case of Ethiopian refugees in the UK. Contemp Nurs 15:210–221CrossRef

Riley E, Olengurumwa O, Olesangale T (2012) Urban pastoralists; a report on the demographics, standards of living, and employment conditions of migrant Maasai living in Dar es Salaam

Sirri L, Fava GA, Sonino N (2013) The unifying concept of illness behavior. Psychother Psychosom 82:74–81. doi:10.1159/000343508 CrossRefPubMed

Tsai J (2007) Ideal affect: cultural causes and behavioral consequences. Perspect Psychol Sci 2:242–259CrossRefPubMed

World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization (2012) Health and climate

Titel: Climate-driven migration: an exploratory case study of Maasai health perceptions and help-seeking behaviors
verfasst von: Alexandra K. Heaney
Sandra J. Winter
Publikationsdatum: 09.11.2015
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Erschienen in: International Journal of Public Health / Ausgabe 6/2016
Print ISSN: 1661-8556
Elektronische ISSN: 1661-8564
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0759-7

Springer Medizin

Abstract

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Bitte loggen Sie sich ein, um Zugang zu diesem Inhalt zu erhalten

Weitere Artikel der Ausgabe 6/2016

Utilization of health-care services among immigrants recruited through non-profit organizations in southern Italy

Cost-utility analysis of a nationwide vaccination programme against serogroup B meningococcal disease in Israel

Main competences and skills to perform Essential Public Health Operations, offered by Schools of Public Health in four European countries: a short pilot report

Effectiveness of health warnings for waterpipe tobacco smoking among college students

Caste-ethnic disparity in vaccine use among 0- to 5-year-old children in Nepal: a decomposition analysis

Predictors of nicotine withdrawal symptoms: findings from the first randomized smoking cessation trial in a low-income country setting