Celia McMichael

An ill wind? Climate change, migration, and health.

Background: Climate change is projected to cause substantial increases in population movement in coming decades. Previous research has considered the likely causal influences and magnitude of such movements and the risks to national and international security. There has been little research on the consequences of climate-related migration and the health of people who move. Objectives: In this review, we explore the role that health impacts of climate change may play in population movements and then examine the health implications of three types of movements likely to be induced by climate change: forcible displacement by climate impacts, resettlement schemes, and migration as an adaptive response. Methods: This risk assessment draws on research into the health of refugees, migrants, and people in resettlement schemes as analogs of the likely health consequences of climate-related migration. Some account is taken of the possible modulation of those health risks by climate change. Discussion: Climate-change–related migration is likely to result in adverse health outcomes, both for displaced and for host populations, particularly in situations of forced migration. However, where migration and other mobility are used as adaptive strategies, health risks are likely to be minimized, and in some cases there will be health gains. Conclusions: Purposeful and timely policy interventions can facilitate the mobility of people, enhance well-being, and maximize social and economic development in both places of origin and places of destination. Nevertheless, the anticipated occurrence of substantial relocation of groups and communities will underscore the fundamental seriousness of human-induced climate change.

Indigenous women's perceptions of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in Queensland.

Objective:To identify social, structural and personal factors among Indigenous women in Queensland associated with the detection of breast cancer, and the treatment and post‐treatment care and support of cancer.

Negotiating family, navigating resettlement: family connectedness amongst resettled youth with refugee backgrounds living in Melbourne, Australia

Refugee adolescents resettling in a new country face many challenges, and being part of a supportive family is a critical factor in assisting them to achieve wellbeing and create positive futures. This longitudinal study documents experiences of family life in the resettlement context of 120 young people with refugee backgrounds living in Melbourne, Australia. Family instability was a core feature of the early settlement period. In this paper, we focus specifically on changing household composition, and levels of trust, attachment, discipline and conflict in family settings during young peoples first years of resettlement. Our results suggest that while families are central to the wellbeing of these young people, changing family dynamics can also pose a threat to wellbeing and successful settlement. We argue that youth focused settlement services must explicitly engage with family contexts in assisting refugee youth to achieve wellbeing and successfully resettle.

Narratives of sexual health risk and protection amongst young people from refugee backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia

Young people with refugee backgrounds face many challenges when making their lives in a resettlement country and their sexual and reproductive health needs are often overlooked. This paper reports on sexual health literacy amongst recently arrived young refugees settling in Melbourne, Australia. Qualitative methods were used to explore how resettled youth access, interpret and implement sexual health information, with a particular focus on how social contexts shape attitudes and understandings. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with 142 participants aged between 16 and 25 years. Findings reveal that while young people had some knowledge of HIV and AIDS, knowledge of other STIs was limited. Importantly, narratives about risk and protection were informed by concerns for maintenance of social wellbeing. Sexual health promotion should be an explicit component of early resettlement services for youth with refugee backgrounds and strategies need to take account of the pre-migration and resettlement contexts.

Unplanned but not unwanted? Teen pregnancy and parenthood among young people with refugee backgrounds

African-born young women with refugee backgrounds in Victoria, Australia, are experiencing elevated rates of teen pregnancy and early parenthood relative to other young women. Drawing primarily on qualitative data from a longitudinal study of settlement and well-being of refugee youth, this article examines the ways young women with refugee backgrounds negotiate teen pregnancy and early motherhood while also managing the challenges of early settlement. While young women indicate that their pregnancies were not planned, they are not necessarily unwanted. Nonetheless, early motherhood involves substantial challenges and complexities, particularly in relation to education, housing and social support. Policy and programmatic responses need to focus both on increasing understanding and capacity for reproductive choice among young women with refugee backgrounds, and providing support for teen parents in order to facilitate successful settlement.

Early motherhood: a qualitative study exploring the experiences of African Australian teenage mothers in greater Melbourne, Australia.

BackgroundMotherhood is a significant and important aspect of life for many women around the globe. For women in communities where motherhood is highly desired, motherhood is considered crucial to the woman’s identity. Teenage motherhood, occurring at a critical developmental stage of teenagers’ lives, has been identified as having adverse social and health consequences. This research aimed to solicit the lived experiences of African Australian young refugee women who have experienced early motherhood in Australia.MethodsThis qualitative research used in-depth interviews. The research methods and analysis were informed by intersectionality theory, phenomenology and a cultural competency framework. Sixteen African born refugee young women who had experienced teenage pregnancy and early motherhood in Greater Melbourne, Australia took part in this research. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and data analysed using thematic content analysis. Ethics approval for this research was granted by Victoria University Human Research Ethics committee.ResultsMotherhood brings increased responsibilities, social recognition, and a sense of purpose for young mothers. Despite the positive aspects of motherhood, participants faced challenges that affected their lives. Most often, the challenges included coping with increased responsibilities following the birth of the baby, managing the competing demands of schooling, work and taking care of a baby in a site of settlement. The young mothers indicated they received good support from their mothers, siblings and close friends, but rarely from the father of their baby and the wider community. Participants felt that teenage mothers are frowned upon by their wider ethnic communities, which left them with feelings of shame and embarrassment, despite the personal perceived benefits of achieving motherhood.ConclusionsWe propose that service providers and policy makers support the role of the young mothers’ own mother, sisters, their grandmothers and aunts following early motherhood. Such support from significant females will help facilitate young mothers’ re-engagement with education, work and other aspects of life. For young migrant mothers, this is particularly important in order to facilitate settlement in a new country and reduce the risk of subsequent mistimed pregnancies. Service providers need to expand their knowledge and awareness of the specific needs of refugee teen mothers living in ‘new settings’.

‘I came to this country for a better life’: factors mediating employment trajectories among young people who migrated to Australia as refugees during adolescence

Located at the intersection of two vulnerable groups in the contemporary labour market, young people who migrate as refugees during adolescence face a unique constellation of opportunities and challenges that shape their employment trajectories. Yet, the tendency for research to focus on the early years of refugee settlement means that we have an inadequate understanding of the factors that mediate their employment decisions, experiences and outcomes. Based on interviews with 51 young people, this article explores how aspirations, responsibilities, family, education and networks are understood to influence the employment trajectories of adolescent refugee migrants. While this article draws attention to the complex and dynamic range of challenges and constraints that these young people negotiate in the pursuit of satisfying and sustainable employment, what also emerges is an optimistic and determined cohort who, even as they at times unsuccessfully prepare for and navigate the labour market, maintain high hopes for a better life.

Mobility and security: the perceived benefits of citizenship for resettled young people from refugee backgrounds

ABSTRACT In recent decades, the meaning and value of formal state citizenship has shifted dramatically. In the same period, scholarship on citizenship has drawn attention to the proliferation of alternative forms of sub-, supra- and transnational citizenship, at times obscuring the ongoing importance of formal state citizenship. For refugees, however, formal state citizenship remains a critical and widely shared goal. Drawing on interviews with 51 young people from refugee backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia, this article explores the intersecting themes of mobility and security that were identified by participants as the most important benefits of acquiring formal state citizenship in the country of resettlement. In contrast to the insecurity of forced migration, formal state citizenship provides a privileged mobility that enables refugee-background youth to maintain and create transnational identities and attachments and to be protected while doing so, while also granting a secure status within the nation state and insurance against further displacement in an uncertain future. In offering these forms of mobility and security, formal state citizenship contributes to a sense of ontological security among refugee-background youth, providing an important foundation for building national and transnational futures.

Climate change-related migration and infectious disease

Anthropogenic climate change will have significant impacts on both human migration and population health, including infectious disease. It will amplify and alter migration pathways, and will contribute to the changing ecology and transmission dynamics of infectious disease. However there has been limited consideration of the intersections between migration and health in the context of a changing climate. This article argues that climate-change related migration - in conjunction with other drivers of migration – will contribute to changing profiles of infectious disease. It considers infectious disease risks for different climate-related migration pathways, including: forced displacement, slow-onset migration particularly to urban-poor areas, planned resettlement, and labor migration associated with climate change adaptation initiatives. Migration can reduce vulnerability to climate change, but it is critical to better understand and respond to health impacts – including infectious diseases - for migrant populations and host communities.

Climate Change and Migration: Food Insecurity as a Driver and Outcome of Climate Change-Related Migration

The impacts of human-induced climate change on both population mobility and food security are issues of substantial concern and debate. However, there has been limited consideration of the intersections between these processes. This chapter considers two key areas of concern. First, climate change will adversely affect food security in many regions, and this may contribute to migration where, for example, people move to areas where agricultural livelihoods and food sources are more secure. Second, climate change is projected to cause increases in human population movement in coming decades, and the nature of some anticipated migration pathways may lead to food insecurity in sites of settlement and relocation. However, the effects of climate change on both population mobility and food security will occur through complex pathways. This chapter considers the intersections—both potential and current—between climate change, food security and migration.