Intersectionality and Caregiving: The Exclusion Experience and Coping Resources of Immigrant Women Caring for a Family Member With Severe Mental Illness

Abstract

Intersectionality has become a central analytical framework in the study of exclusion and empowerment experiences among women from marginalized communities. However, the relevance of intersectionality to informal caregiving in mental healthcare has hardly been explored to date. The purpose of the current study is to examine the exclusion experiences and coping resources of immigrant women caring for a family member with a severe mental illness (SMI) through the lens of intersectionality theory. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 informal female immigrant caregivers from the former Soviet Union residing in Israel. The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative content approach. The findings revealed that the participants experienced stigma and exclusion in several intersecting categories: economic marginalization of immigrant single mothers, ethnic and gender-based stigma of Russian-speaking women, gender-based domestic violence, and mental health stigma by professionals. The participants’ coping resources included spirituality and religious faith, support groups, and social activism. The study provides insights into the burdens and rewards experienced by female immigrant caregivers of family members with SMI through the lens of intersectionality theory. Implications for adapting services to the contextual characteristics of female immigrant caregivers and minimizing intersectional stigma and inequities in informal healthcare are discussed.