Health in Swedish integration policies - a discourse analysis

Area of Science:

• Public Health Policy
• Sociology of Health
• Discourse Analysis

Background:

• Migrants face inequities internationally and in Sweden, necessitating study of integration policies.
• The framing of health within policies influences health intervention strategies.
• Discourse analysis is crucial for understanding health perspectives in integration policies for new migrants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze health discourses within Swedish and European Union (EU) integration policies.
• To examine how health is framed in policies affecting newly arrived migrants in Sweden.

Main Methods:

• Discourse analysis, inspired by Fairclough, applied to integration policies at local, regional, national, and EU levels.
• Analysis focused on documents from the Establishment Program for newly arrived migrants (refugees, subsidiary protection, family reunification).
• Seventeen policy documents were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Health discourses identified include medicalization of health, individualization of health, and risk of ill health.
• Policies exhibit a pathogenic approach, emphasizing individual disease prevention and rehabilitation.
• Findings align with research on health understanding within a neoliberal context.

Conclusions:

• Swedish and EU integration policies frame migrant health through medicalization and individual risk, a pathogenic approach.
• The focus on individual disease prevention reflects neoliberal health ideologies.
• Further research should explore alternative, salutogenic approaches to migrant health in policy.