IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i14p6421-d1198784.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Immigrants’ Experiences and Perceptions of COVID-19 Information in Norway

Author

Listed:
  • Seila Mahic

    (Centre of Diaconia and Professional Practice, VID Specialized University, P.O. Box 184, Vinderen, 0319 Oslo, Norway)

  • Line Nortvedt

    (Faculty of Health Sciences, OsloMet—Oslo Metropolitan University, P.O. Box 4, St. Olavs Plass, 0130 Oslo, Norway)

  • Lise-Merete Alpers

    (Faculty of Health Studies, VID Specialized University, P.O. Box 184, Vinderen, 0319 Oslo, Norway)

Abstract

When the COVID-19 virus hit the world, immigrants were overrepresented among those infected. In Norway, throughout the pandemic, there were far higher infection rates in people of Somali and Pakistani descent than in the rest of the population. The first aim of this study is to explore the experiences and perceptions of immigrants from Somalia and Pakistan living in Oslo regarding the different sources of COVID-19 information that they referred to at the beginning of the pandemic. The second aim is to suggest and discuss measures to improve practice in the event of a new pandemic. Four semi-structured focus-group interviews were conducted with a total of 27 first-generation immigrants from Somalia and Pakistan. The results showed that the immigrants found various COVID-19 information sources to be important. These sources are further presented in three categories: (1) COVID-19 information from the authorities through mass communication; (2) family, friends, and local environments as sources of information; (3) information from religious communities and volunteer resource personnel. We conclude that the participants were active users of available information from different sources and channels. Stigmatization made a negative contribution and religion made a positive contribution to coping and to trust in the authorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Seila Mahic & Line Nortvedt & Lise-Merete Alpers, 2023. "Immigrants’ Experiences and Perceptions of COVID-19 Information in Norway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:14:p:6421-:d:1198784
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/14/6421/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/14/6421/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rasmus Luca Lyager Brønholt & Nina Langer Primdahl & Anja M. B. Jensen & An Verelst & Ilse Derluyn & Morten Skovdal, 2021. "“I Just Want Some Clear Answers”: Challenges and Tactics Adopted by Migrants in Denmark When Accessing Health Risk Information about COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-10, August.
    2. Eerika Finell & Marja Tiilikainen & Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti & Nasteho Hasan & Fairuz Muthana, 2021. "Lived Experience Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic among Arabic-, Russian- and Somali-Speaking Migrants in Finland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-18, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sadatoshi Matsuoka & Madhu Kharel & Kyoko Koto-Shimada & Maiko Hashimoto & Hiroyuki Kiyohara & Azusa Iwamoto & Mika Nishihara & Masami Fujita, 2022. "Access to Health-Related Information, Health Services, and Welfare Services among South and Southeast Asian Immigrants in Japan: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, September.
    2. Marco Marotta & Francesca Gorini & Alessandra Parlanti & Kyriazoula Chatzianagnostou & Annamaria Mazzone & Sergio Berti & Cristina Vassalle, 2021. "Fear of COVID-19 in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-11, September.
    3. André Hajek & Hans-Helmut König, 2021. "The Prevalence and Correlates of Probable Major Depressive Disorder and Probable Generalized Anxiety Disorder during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Results of a Nationally Representative Survey in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-9, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:14:p:6421-:d:1198784. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.