I read an editorial in the Journal of Advanced Nursing called Health Implications of the home and host culture intersection (3 June 2021), my interest was piqued by the word intersection, just as it is when I’ve written about intersectionality. The article starts with a poem by Ijeoma Umebinyuo, the jist of which is too foreign for home, too foreign for here. The article refers to ‘migrants’. I’ve spoken before about how classism intersects so would suggest that feeling alienated from home is not ‘just’ something felt by ‘migrants’ but all marginalised people. It effects both physical and psychological well-being as addressed in this article; it is extensively addressed by Dr Kinouani in her book “living while Black” which has been published this week.
The article mentions how people are required to adapt to the host culture. This is particularly problematic when that host culture is one of colonialism. People who have taken the decision to migrate, (is taken freely by the individual concerned for reason of personal convenience)Definitions | Refugees and Migrants (un.org)
and indigenous people are both traumatised by our history that has not been taught. The article states that it is not easily achievable to affirm identities within institutions and structures where cultural values and practices are neither welcomed nor respected –
It is possible to ‘create an environment that allows a harmonious intersection’ however the power dynamic or the need for internalised change needs to be acknowledged, as does the hostile political environment, historical and ongoing injustices.
Years ago I had a friend from Russia, with a new-born she sought advise from her Mum but was also advised by her health visitor here. She was made to feel shamed by cultural practices that were the norm in favour of her health visitors very clear ideas on what she “should” be doing with her child. As a new anxious Mum it would have been so much easier for her if the health visitor had been more sympathetic to the gap between two cultures that this new Mum found herself in.
I’m also mindful of someone I met when I was volunteering, she was very anxious and referred to the health professionals she’d encountered with her child as “those bitches”. It was difficult to hear and I could feel myself wanting to be defensive but I sought more information and the trust had broken down through the professionals not showing appropriate respect to her home “barging in” and to her sleeping baby. She’d been up all night with a crying baby and finally she’d got the baby to sleep when the health visitor arrived. A really difficult situation as trust between them was already low and given what I understand now about psychological trauma and how some people have had generations of their family forcibly removed from them despite this incident having happened years ago, she was still very much affected by it. See links The Stolen Generation | Australians Together ‘Suffer little children’: New evidence that Irish kids were murdered in reform schools | IrishCentral.com Remains of 250 Dead Children Found at Catholic School – Nwo Report
“It is important to prioritise community partnerships and participation when providing health services to migrant populations, especially minoritized communities”.