Housing and health for people with refugee- and asylum-seeking backgrounds: a photovoice study in Australia

Housing is a social determinant of health, and previous research has linked housing with health for the general population. Less research has explored this relationship for people with refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds in resettlement countries. This article reports on findings from the photovoice component of a larger study exploring housing and health for refugees and asylum seekers in South Australia. Participants were 11 refugees and asylum seekers who participated in a photovoice exercise, taking photographs of their housing and neighbourhood and then discussing these in an interview, with verbal data analyzed thematically. Participants identified several elements of housing that affected health, specifically the following: gardens, physical condition, space, layout and privacy and, in relation to neighbourhood, safety, green spaces and proximity to services. Cutting across these themes were affordability, security of tenure and agency which in turn affected ontological security. The article concludes that consideration of ways to promote ontological security in housing should be a critical component of resettlement policies.