Health in Relation to Unemployment and Sick Leave Among Immigrants in Sweden from a Gender Perspective

Akhavan, Sharareh; Bildt, Carina; Franzén, Elsie C; Wamala, Sarah

doi:10.1023/b:joih.0000030226.59785.38

Cited by 44 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…We are conscious, as Akhavan and her colleagues have pointed out (3), that identifying or monitoring minority groups can lend itself easily to stigmatization if not properly handled. The usefulness of terms such as immigrant or foreign worker is their capacity as descriptors of power imbalances, social stratification, and the lesser power that minority groups often have in societies (3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Immigrant populations, work and health—a systematic literature review

Ahonen¹,

Benavides²,

Benach³

2007

Scand J Work Environ Health

203

155

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Scand J Work Environ Health 2007;33(2):96-104 that can encourage immigration, there is an important connection to be made between migrating populations, work, and the effect that both foreign status and worker status have on the health and quality of life of these groups. It is probable that these newly arrived persons find themselves in positions of special occupational vulnerability, with high levels of precarious employment and poor work conditions.Considering the magnitude of current human movement, we know relatively little about the links between work and health in immigrant groups. Reviews on this topic are scarce and with a limited scope. They have tended to focus on specific collectives, which are clearly useful for understanding the conditions of these groups. However, such reviews do not bring to light the commonalities that can exist across immigrant worker collectives that could direct further research and advocacy at a structural level. Other descriptive reviews are not described as such and include little information about the search process, factors that are important for locating Objectives This paper summarizes the information on immigrant occupational health available from recent studies, incorporating varied study designs.Methods A systematic search was carried out in PubMed employing terms of interest to the study and related terms supplied by the same search engine. Articles were selected through the following process: (i) reading the title and abstract, in English or Spanish, for the period 1990-2005, (ii) reading of the entire text of selected articles; (iii) making a manual search of the relevant citations in the selected articles; (iv) eliminating articles without a focus on the themes of central interest (immigration, work, and health), and (v) reading and analyzing the definitive article set. No quality criteria were used in the article selection. Results The location of studies was not straightforward and required careful thought about the search terms. The included 48 papers were often multifaceted and difficult to categorize. They generally came from countries historically associated with immigration and described occupational risk factors, health consequences, and the social, economic, and cultural influences on worker health. They were also based on data, surveillance, training, and preventive measures that were inadequate.Conclusions Increased migration is a reality in industrialized countries all over the world, and it has social, political, and economic consequences for migrating groups, as well as for their sending and host societies. More reliable data, targeted appropriate interventions, and enforcement of existing regulations are necessary to improve the health of immigrant workers. Furthermore, studies in sending and developing countries should be encouraged to form a more complete understanding of this complex situation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, one study of unemployment and sick leave in Sweden (3) found that more than half of the immigrant study participants considered their health to be poor, and they experienced various physical and mental health disorders. Many of the participants actually attributed their poor health to their unemployment status.…”

Section: Importance Of Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigrant populations, work and health—a systematic literature review

Ahonen¹,

Benavides²,

Benach³

2007

Scand J Work Environ Health

203

155

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…However, no studies to date have analyzed sick leave among immigrants living in Spain, and only a few have concerned sick leave among immigrants in Europe (9)(10)(11)(12).…”

Section: Soler-gonzález Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

Sick leave among native and immigrant workers in Spain—a 6-month follow-up study

Soler-González¹,

Serna²,

Bosch³

et al. 2008

Scand J Work Environ Health

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“…Swedish studies reveal that immigrant women experienced discrimination in the labour market and were mainly employed as cleaners, home-helpers or nursery assistants (Akhavan et al, 2007(Akhavan et al, , 2004. As a parallel, immigrants in Canada and Scandinavia, most of which are from low-and middle-income countries, often experience social exclusion and discrimination because of their race, language, religion and immigrant-status.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A lonely life—A qualitative study of immigrant women on long-term sick leave in Norway

Nortvedt

Lohne

Kumar

et al. 2016

International Journal of Nursing Studies

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The immigrant women on long-term sick leave live in triple jeopardy: being ill and being lonesome both at home and at the workplace. This can be described as a vicious circle where the humiliating domestic and workplace-rejection might reinforce both the women's experience of shame and avoidance of telling anybody about their illness/symptoms, which then results in more days on sick leave during which they are again isolated and lonesome. There is a need for more research on multidisciplinary rehabilitation approaches designed to cater for immigrants' special needs.

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Health in Relation to Unemployment and Sick Leave Among Immigrants in Sweden from a Gender Perspective

Cited by 44 publications

References 10 publications

Immigrant populations, work and health—a systematic literature review

Immigrant populations, work and health—a systematic literature review

Sick leave among native and immigrant workers in Spain—a 6-month follow-up study

A lonely life—A qualitative study of immigrant women on long-term sick leave in Norway

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