Abstract
Background and aimEarly action is important for promoting newly arrived migrants’ health. Politicians are major actors in decision-making that affects health outcomes in the population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore local and regional politicians’ considerations of newly arrived migrants’ health in political decision-making: whether politicians reflect on or discuss the effects of decision-making specifically on newly arrived migrants’ health, whether considerations differ between municipality and regional politicians, and how knowledge and attitudes are associated with such considerations.Subject and methodsA cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted. A total of 667 municipality and regional politicians from northern Sweden responded to a questionnaire developed based on interviews with politicians. Bivariate analyses were performed using χ2 tests, the independent samples t-test, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed using binary logistic regression.ResultsPoliticians considered the effects on newly arrived migrants’ health significantly less frequently than those on the total population’s health. Regional politicians discussed such effects more often than municipality politicians. Knowledge (odds ratio [OR] = 1.343), attitude (OR = 5.962), previous experience working on public health issues (OR = 1.784), and female gender (OR = 1.787) were positively associated with considering effects on newly arrived migrants’ health in decision-making.ConclusionPoliticians play important roles in health promotion, and most consider health-related effects in their decision-making. However, about a third do not consider such effects. General health-related knowledge and attitude are important factors that could be affected or changed during political assignments.
Highlights
Background and aimEarly action is important for promoting newly arrived migrants’ health
The purpose of this study was to explore local and regional politicians’ considerations of newly arrived migrants’ health in political decision-making: whether politicians reflect on or discuss the effects of decision-making on newly arrived migrants’ health, whether considerations differ between municipality and regional politicians, and how knowledge and attitudes are associated with such considerations
Of the 667 respondents, approximately 45% were under the age of 55 years, 46% were female, and 83% were municipality politicians (Table 1)
Summary
Background and aimEarly action is important for promoting newly arrived migrants’ health. J Public Health (Berl.): From Theory to Practice through family reunification are considered newly arrived migrants for 2 years after they have received residence permits. During that time, they have the right to participate in integration activities. They have the right to participate in integration activities In these integration activities, municipalities are major actors, while regions are involved on a case-by-case basis (Government Offices of Sweden 2017). During the design of this study in 2018, there were 52,547 asylum seekers waiting to have their claims assessed (Swedish Migration Agency 2019), and 42,014 former asylum seekers and individuals arriving through family reunification were granted residence permits (Swedish Migration Agency 2020b)
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