Queen Mary, University of London has been awarded nearly £125,000 by the Leverhulme Trust to fund a two-year project on the health of immigrants living in London, ‘Place, culture and film: an investigation of migrants’ health making practices’.
Professor Isabel Dyck of the Department of Geography, Principal Investigator, and Dr. Marta Rabikowska of the University of East London, will study health care knowledge and practices of the Nigerian, Indian and Polish communities now residing in the multicultural borough of Greenwich.The study uses film to document how migrants from the three countries keep healthy and treat illness, including how traditional knowledge and practices may have changed since coming to the UK.The research includes interviews with migrants and will film different locations in the community that they consider important to their health. Interactions among different groups in building health knowledge and adapting long-held health practices will also be examined.Professor Dyck and Dr. Rabikowska hope the findings will help doctors and other health care professionals to recognise the importance of place as well as culture in the use of health knowledge when they come into contact with, and treat, migrant groups.“The films should also stimulate dialogue among academics, community organisations, and policy makers around migrants’ health needs,” Professor Dyck added.
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