Funding outcome

This study will be an extension of a larger program that looks at how place shapes people's well-being and how they think about health and wellness. Little is known about tlie interconnectedness of place, social relationships, income, culture and health of women who migrate from low and middle income countries to Canada. The purpose of this study is to examine the interconnectedness of place, social relationships, income, culture and health of female migrants to Canada. A significant pattern in migration in Africa are the increased numbers of women who are educated, who move to fulfil their own financial needs. This research will examine and describe the interconnectedness of health with place, social relationships, income, and culture of women migrants, which in turn shape health behaviours and overall wellness. We will develop recommendations for health promotion activities and access to health care. We will use a focused ethnography study design. The methodology will allow for improved understandings of how people from different cultures incorporate health beliefs and practices into their lives and to describe the meaning of how cultures or subcultures are accredited to their experiences. The study will be informed an intersectionality approach; it refers to the relations between gender, sex, race, ethnocultural affiliation, social practices, organizational rules, and cultural beliefs and outcomes. Ethics approval will be sought from the Human Research Ethics Review Board at the University of Alberta. All women who are classified as migrants and moved from either Ghana or South Africa are our study population. Members will be enlisted with the support of our collaborators. We will ask women to tell us their stories about migration and have deeper individual conversations with them on their health experiences. Information will be examined with the help of a computer-based qualitative software program that will also support data mangement. Information will be inspected for patterns on what was said. Themes will be developed to make sense of the information we gathered. The quality of the data examination will be checked to ensure the research process was clear. We will implement a check trail through ongoing discussions with the research team.