Acculturation and health-seeking behaviours among Filipinos living in Australia (The Atlas Study)

Abstract

Background The increasing diversity of Australia's population mandates a greater understanding of the issues migrants face in seeking and maintaining health. Settling in a new country is a complex process that has been reported to affect the health of many migrants. Despite some similarities across different cultures, the experiences and interactions with the physical and sociocultural environment may be unique to a population group and may have significant influences on their health and health-seeking behaviours. The aims of this research are to explore the acculturative experience of Filipino migrants to Australia and the challenges they encounter in negotiating health in the new country. Filipino immigrants to Australia are increasing in number every census year, yet, health service research in this ethnic group has been scarce and has not kept pace with the population growth. Much of the current studies on Filipino immigrants are feminists research mainly focused on the health of Filipino migrant women married to Australian men. This thesis aims to rectify this paucity by examining health-seeking behaviours of Filipino immigrants using the socioecological framework which postulates that health behaviour is influenced by the larger social and environmental contexts in which a person functions. How has immigration to Australia affected their health-seeking behaviours and what are the influencing factors that facilitate and hinder health-seeking? More importantly, the study explores how health services can provide culturally appropriate health interventions addressing a migrant population with a unique health profile and demographic characteristics. This thesis is presented as a series of six published papers. Findings of this research add to the understanding of factors influencing health-seeking behaviours in culturally and linguistically diverse migrants.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English