Journal of Community Health
Volume 43, Issue 6, 2018, Pages 1028-1036

The Personal Social Networks of Resettled Bhutanese Refugees During Pregnancy in the United States: A Social Network Analysis (Article)

M. Kingsbury D.* , P. Bhatta M. , Castellani B. , Khanal A. , Jefferis E. , S. Hallam J.
  • a College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States, Department of Family & Community Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), Rootstown, OH, United States
  • b College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
  • c Department of Sociology, Kent State University, Ashtabula, OH, United States
  • d College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
  • e College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
  • f College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States

Abstract

Women comprise 50% of the refugee population, 25% of whom are of reproductive age. Female refugees are at risk for experiencing significant hardships associated with the refugee experience, including after resettlement. For refugee women, the strength of their personal social networks can play an important role in mitigating the stress of resettlement and can be an influential source of support during specific health events, such as pregnancy. A personal social network analysis was conducted among 45 resettled Bhutanese refugee women who had given birth within the past 2 years in the Akron Metropolitan Area of Northeast Ohio. Data were collected using in-depth interviews conducted in Nepali over a 6-month period in 2016. Size, demographic characteristics of ties, frequency of communication, length of relationship, and strength of connection were the social network measures used to describe the personal networks of participants. A qualitative analysis was also conducted to assess what matters were commonly discussed within networks and how supportive participants perceived their networks to be. Overall, participants reported an average of 3 close personal connections during their pregnancy. The networks were comprised primarily of female family members whom the participant knew prior to resettlement in the U.S. Participants reported their networks as “very close” and perceived their connections to be supportive of them during their pregnancies. These results may be used to guide future research, as well as public health programming, that seeks to improve the pregnancy experiences of resettled refugee women. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

Social support Maternal and child health Community health Refugees Social network analysis

Index Keywords

Vulnerable Populations vulnerable population Ohio refugee human epidemiology Refugees Pregnant Women coping behavior social network Adaptation, Psychological social support ethnology Bhutan interview United States Humans migrant psychology Emigrants and Immigrants female qualitative analysis pregnancy clinical article child health Article adult human experiment Social Networking pregnant woman public health
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85046019192&doi=10.1007%2fs10900-018-0518-9&partnerID=40&md5=6de99ce4d10c41cfdb51150063c159fd
DOI: 10.1007/s10900-018-0518-9
ISSN: 00945145
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English