Social participation plays a key role in the integration of refugees and asylum seekers into their host societies, and is also closely tied to the mental health of those populations. The aim of this scoping review was to study how the concept of social participation is described in empirical research, and how it is associated with mental health outcomes.

METHODS: In total, 64 studies were identified through searches in PubMed, PsycInfo, and Sociological Abstracts. These studies describe various forms of social participation among refugees and asylum seekers, and 33 of them also addressed various forms of mental health outcomes.

RESULTS: The identified studies described forms and conditions of social participation-both in the host country and transnationally-that could be synthesized into three broad dimensions: (1) Regulatory frameworks, conditions and initiatives; (2) Established societal organizations and social structures; and (3) Community organized groups. Each of these consisted of several sub-domains. The identified dimensions of social participation were also associated with psychosocial well-being and decreased psychological distress.

CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for policies to enable and support the participation of refugees and asylum seekers in various dimensions of social structures in host societies. Social participation enhances resilience, re-establishes social lives, and acts as a protective factor against poor mental health outcomes.

Background

Ayurveda has its historical roots in India, but has also been internationalised, partly via migration and partly through an increased interest in alternative medicine in the West, where studies point toward increased use. However, there is to date scarce knowledge about the use and experiences of ayurveda in Sweden.

Methods

We have conducted a case study of a center for ayurvedic healthcare in Sweden. We have collected information on client background data from the center’s documentation, and compiled data from all clients who visited the centre for ayurvedic consultation during spring 2014. In total, 55 individuals were included in the study, and 18 of them were chosen for individual semi-structured interviews, to gain a deeper understanding of their motives for seeking, and experiences of ayurvedic health care. The material was analysed and compiled through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Results

Among the 55 clients, 91 % were female the mean age was 47 years, and 64 % gave a specific illness as a reason for seeking ayurveda. The most common illnesses were respiratory, musculoskeletal, circulatory, tumor, and cutaneous illnesses. The qualitative results showed that ayurveda was being used in combination with other methods, including various diets, other alternative medicine methods and conventional medicine. Some participants recounted having sought ayurveda as a complement to conventional medicine, or in cases when conventional medicine had been experienced as insufficient in terms of diagnosis or treatment. However, some participants experienced it as difficult to follow the ayurvedic life-style advice in the midst of their everyday life. Many participants reported positive experiences of pulse diagnostics, which was the main diagnostic method used in ayurvedic consultation. Some reported concrete, physical improvement of their symptoms.

Conclusions

This study points towards important aspects of participant experience of ayurveda, that may be subject to further research. The positive effects experienced by some clients should be studied more systematically in order to discern whether they are specific or non-specific.

Under de senaste decennierna har Sverige genomgått stora demografiska och politiska förändringar. Tillsammans har dessa inneburit att Sverige idag samtidigt är ett av Europas mest sekulariserade och mest mångreligiösa länder. Den snabba demografiska förändring Sverige har genomgått har ställt många inför nya, stora och i vissa fall skyndsamma kunskapsbehov samtidigt är forskningen om situationen delvis eftersatt. I denna rapport identifieras hur den nya situationen relaterar till det lagstadgade uppdrag som svenskt polisväsende, vård, skola och offentlig förvaltning har. Den forskning som gjorts inom dessa områden sammanfattas och de viktigaste forskningsbehoven identifieras.

This paper concerns the practice of so called ‘Ayurvedic health counselling’ in Sweden today. It is a case study involving semi-structured interviews with six practitioners in the Stockholm area. The focus is on how the practitioners construe the therapeutic processes involved in their practice. The aim of the case study is to develop theoretical interpretations of these processes in terms of a performance perspective based upon Catherine Bell’s concept of ‘ritualization’.

The main objective of this dissertation is to contribute to the psychology of religion in two ways. First, it adds to theory development in the field, and second, it provides an original field study of Hindu everyday-religiosity. This dual-focused objective is met through the development of theory for a practice-oriented cultural psychology of religion, grounded in a study of a Hindu goddess-temple in Banaras (Varanasi), India.

The cultural psychological approach makes use of Bourdieu’s concept “habitus”. It is argued that employing this concept in theory development overcomes a dualism of culture and self, and provides an alternative to previous models in the psychology of religion that interpret religiosity in either intrapsychical or intersubjective terms. Further, it is argued that the concept can interpret culture-specific features in Hindu religiosity, such as an emphasis on practical activity and on a non-dualistic view of person and world.

A model of a “Religious Self in Practice” is outlined, which integrates features from theories of “self as narrative practice” and Bell’s concept “ritualization”. The religious self is seen as a construction of relational and practical processes, a product of individuals participating in cultural practices of religiosity, manifested in a specific local site. Specific persons master the pre-given conventions of religious self-construction in individual, creative ways.

The study argues that a temple is such a site in a Hindu context. Ethnography is used to study the cultural practices of the religious self at the site, and life story interview to study a sample of seven individual ways of mastering these practices. The study analyzes sacred status at the temple as being an interplay of individuals’ devotions and common practices of religiosity. This practical logic is also identified in the life stories of the devotees as narrative practice of the religious self in relation to the Goddess.

Purpose – In general, newly resettled refugees have poorer physical and mental health than native-born Swedes. This indicates that the society must make special efforts to enable refugees to attain health that is on a par with the rest of the population. The challenges rest primarily with employees in the public sector. But what resources do professionals need to meet the refugees’ health needs? This paper is about the need to develop strategies for professionals working with diversity and health, with a focus on the establishment of newly resettled refugees in Sweden. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the needs and obstacles in working with diversity and health for the newly resettled.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on focus group interviews with 40 professionals working in three large municipalities and one County Administrative Board, all of whom work with challenges related to migration and health on a daily basis.

Findings – The needs expressed by the interviewees are primarily about developing and improving communications. Three important areas of communication were expressed: how information can be transferred from sender to receiver, institutionalization and interactions at different levels.

Originality/value – This paper identifies important needs and obstacles when working with diversity and health in Sweden, with a focus on the establishment of newly resettled refugees. It is an important contribution because refugees in general have poorer physical and mental health than native-born Swedes and strategies to improve their health, therefore, need to be further developed