The increasing trend for women in developing countries to engage in international and temporary labor migration has exposed female migrant workers to health inequities. In this article, we problematize the impact of international and temporary labor migration on the health of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong by exploring their general patterns of health information acquisition. Through a series of focus group discussions with Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong, we found that employers serve as stakeholders in migration health, social networking sites can be a platform for participatory health promotion, and religious beliefs and behaviors can promote favorable health behaviors.

In this essay, we engage with the call for Extraordinary Issue: Coronavirus, Crisis and Communication. Situated in the Philippines, we reflect on how COVID-19 has made visible the often-overlooked relationship between journalism and public health. In covering the pandemic, journalists struggle with the shrinking space for press freedom and limited access to information as they also grapple with threats to their physical and mental well-being. Digital media enable journalists to report even in quarantine, but new challenges such as the wide circulation of health mis-/disinformation and private information emerge. Moreover, journalists have to contend with broader structural contexts of shutdown not just of a mainstream broadcast but also of community newspapers serving as critical sources of pandemic-related information. Overall, we hope this essay broadens the dialogue among journalists, policymakers, and healthcare professionals to improve the delivery of public health services and advance health reporting.

This paper explores the relationship between the social networks of Filipino migrant domestic workers (FMDWs) in Hong Kong and the accessibility of health resources, especially for migrant women. This study primarily draws evidence from ethnographic interviews with 20 FMDWs in Hong Kong. Likewise, this analysis also relied on field notes from participant observations during formal meetings and informal activities. This paper reveals that FMDWs strategically use their strong and weak ties in managing risks and accessing resources for their health and well-being by deciding among their social network who and what to share regarding health concerns. They conscientiously negotiate their rights and opportunities with their employers, who can also provide access to social and institutional resources. Finally, FMDWs participate in conversations and discourses on health-related policies of their home and host countries with their social network. By focusing on the social networks of FMDWs in Hong Kong, this paper conceptually and empirically broadens conversations about how migration becomes a social determinant of health. Moreover, it illustrates how migrant social networks are organized, activated, and mobilized around discourses on state-crafted health policies towards migrant women.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the meanings and experiences of health of Filipino female household service workers (FHSWs) in Hong Kong (HK). Design/methodology/approach – It draws theoretic insights from culture-centered approach to health communication and uses in-depth interviews and field notes. Findings – For FHSWs, meanings of health are contingent on work. Health is valued not just because it allows FHSWs to fulfill the daily demands of employers but also it provides assurance for sustained employment contracts. Relative to formal labor and migration policies, informal rules and regulations of employers put unreasonable demand for FHSWs to be healthy. Furthermore, FHSWs experience health along the themes of periphery and center, physical and non-physical, internal and external, and right and privilege. Research limitations/implications – The experiences and meanings of health reported in this paper are limited to FHSWs in HK and may differ from other countries. Employers, non-government organizations, and private and public health care personnel need to be included to generate a more nuanced discussion of migration health in HK. Practical implications – In designing health promotion for FHSWs, employers as target audience should also be considered. Originality/value – Despite growing evidence, the consequences of international and temporary labor migration on women’s health largely remain under-theorized. To date, this paper is one of the few to engage health communication theory in rethinking migration health scholarship.

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