Somali asylum seekers’ perceptions of privacy in healthcare

Abstract

Even though all contents of privacy can be shared with healthcare professionals, it is important to recognize the cultural aspect of privacy especially when using interpreters with Somali background.

Respecting the privacy of hospitalized patients: An integrative review

“…[7][8][9] According to the literature, privacy is a rather indefinite or relative concept since the cultural norms and values of each society and specific status of each individual in the community affect the definition and interpretation of this notion. 17,18 Privacy is therefore a vague concept, which is usually defined differently depending on the condition and context in which it is applied. 19 Currently, there is no consensus over the definition of privacy.…”

Planning focus group interviews with asylum seekers: Factors related to the researcher, interpreter and asylum seekers

“…In some cultures, such as Asian cultures, the fear of “losing face” may hinder active participation in the discussion (Halcomb et al., ). Also the gender of the participants may affect the level of discussion, since certain issues may be discussed only inside one gender (Eklöf et al., ). In our study, the cultural norms of Somali culture related to sensitive topics were acknowledged, and the groups were divided by gender.…”

“…Each group then chose one term to be used in the interview, so the equivalence of it could be guaranteed. Since working with interpreter can be challenging (Eklöf, Hupli, & Leino-Kilpi, 2015;Eklöf et al, 2016), we suggest using one language group per focus group interview.…”

“…This may cause lack of trust towards the interpreter and hinder the sharing of information, thoughts and insights, especially when it comes to sensitive issues (Ogilvie et al, 2008). The class and position of the interpreter in the community have to be acknowledged since ethnic communities are usually small and tight (Plumridge et al, 2012), and, for example, privacy can be seen as a collective phenomenon (Eklöf et al, 2016).…”

“…Asylum seekers are often grouped together with immigrants, refugees or other vulnerable groups, meaning that the special needs of asylum seekers are not emphasised. Even though the focus group method is occasionally used as a data collection method in descriptive studies with asylum seekers (e.g., Eklöf, Abdlkarim, Hupli, & Leino‐Kilpi, ; Ruppenthal, Tuck, & Gagnon, ), there is a lack of publications on this specific topic. The focus group method is based on Western traditions, and the recognition of its cultural aspects is important (Carey, ).…”