New thesis on how living conditions in Sweden may shape the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees
Hi Charlotta van Eggermont Arwidson, doctoral student at the division of nursing. On January 23 you will defend your thesis ”New Beginnings, New Challenges: Health & Housing of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in their Early Post-Migration Period in Sweden.” What is the main focus of the thesis?
”The main focus is to investigate and deepen the understanding of how living conditions in Sweden may shape the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees, in particular the housing situation during the asylum process.”
Which are the most important results?
”Our findings underscore that asylum seekers mental health is shaped by an interplay of many different factors, where the housing situation in institutional collective housing is one of them. Initial findings suggest that it may even be worse for mental health to live in institutional accommodation centers than to organize your own housing as an asylum seeker.”
How can this new knowledge contribute to the improvement of people’s health?
”The new knowledge can contribute to a deeper understanding of asylum seekers' living situations and enable contextualized support to meet their specific health needs. To have sufficient knowledge when supporting asylum seekers is important as it enables provision of practical, actionable advice that accurately reflects their living conditions. The findings also highlight the importance of improving housing conditions to prevent long-term mental health problems.”
What's in the future for you? Will you continue to conduct research?
”I hope so. The future will tell.”