Social Media: Migrant Health

Abstract

The use of social media for health purposes has grown rapidly around the world, including among migrants who are vulnerable. Depending on access, the level of skills, and preferences for platforms, the use of social media among members of different migrant groups to seek and share health information and/or health social support may vary. Despite the growing problem of the propagation of health misinformation on social media, these platforms are significant sources of public health information. With global migration increasing, what challenges and opportunities are associated with social media use for bridging health disparities among migrant groups? In today's connected world, social media use has an important role in the migrant settlement process by facilitating migrant access to information about the culture of, services, programs, and practices in the host society, including health and health related. Yet, there remains a knowledge gap for clinicians, organizations, and service providers in terms of using, developing, and leveraging social media to address migrant health issues. Social media use for migrant health purposes should be considered in light of migrants' unique contexts, especially the determinants that shape migrant health experiences, including structural and social. Against the backdrop of a dearth of data on social media use of migrants for seeking and sharing health information, now is the time to further research to produce evidence of the positive and negative impacts of social media on migrant health, as well as harness the role of social media platforms to combat health misinformation and promote migrant health.