Kayvan Bozorgmehr, Simon Kühne, Louise Biddle
Communication with Professor Kayvan Bozorgmehr; kayvan.bozorgmehr@uni-bielefeld.de
Draft
The health of immigrants and refugees is determined by a number of factors. Among these, the local political context in the post-migration phase is an important determinant that operates at the human and institutional level. We provide a conceptual framework to advance the conceptualization, measurement, and empirical evidence related to microenvironmental factors that shape and determine the local political climate, as these may translate into differences in health outcomes among immigrants, refugees, and other marginalized population groups. Using the example of Germany, we provide evidence of microenvironmental variation in the determinants of political climate and propose possible pathways from local political climate to health outcomes. We explain that anti-immigrant and anti-immigrant violence is a Europe-wide phenomenon and how the resilience of individuals, communities and health systems moderates the effects of the local political climate on health outcomes. Through an empirical review of international evidence on spillover effects identified in other racialized groups, we propose a conceptual framework that includes both direct effects and ‘spillover’ effects on mental health. An objective analysis of the topic. After presenting and discussing methodological challenges, we call for joint efforts to create alliances between the social sciences, conflict and violence studies, political science, data science, social psychologists, and epidemiology to conceptualize, measure, and analyze the health effects of local political climates.
Read the full report BMJ.