Experience of South and Southeast Asian minority women in Hong Kong during COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

Background Hong Kong has a relatively low incidence rate of COVID-19 across the globe. Nevertheless, ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, especially South Asians (SAs) and Southeast Asians (SEAs), face numerous physical, mental, social, economic, cultural and religious challenges during the pandemic. Thi...

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Veröffentlicht in:	International journal for equity in health Jg. 22; H. 1; S. 110 - 11
Hauptverfasser:	Chung, Roger Yat-Nork, Lee, Tobey Tsz-Yan, Chan, Siu-Ming, Chung, Gary Ka-Ki, Chan, Yat-Hang, Wong, Samuel Yeung-Shan, Lai, Eric, Wong, Hung, Yeoh, Eng Kiong, Marmot, Michael, Woo, Jean
Format:	Journal Article
Sprache:	Englisch
Veröffentlicht:	London BioMed Central 02.06.2023 BioMed Central Ltd Springer Nature B.V BMC
Schlagworte:	Activities of daily living Asian cultural groups Control Coronaviruses COVID-19 COVID-19 - epidemiology Demographic aspects Discrimination Disease control Economic conditions Economics Education Epidemics Equality and Human Rights Ethnic factors Ethnic groups Ethnic minority Ethnicity Everyday life Families & family life Family roles Female Gender roles Health Health aspects Health care disparities Health care policy Health disparities Health planning Health Policy Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Health Services Research Health status Hong Kong - epidemiology Humans Infections Interviews Language Medical research Medicine Medicine & Public Health Mental disorders Mental health Minorities Minority & ethnic groups Minority groups Minority Groups - psychology Minority women Pandemics Population Poverty Prevention Psychological aspects Public Health Qualitative research Relatives Researchers Sex role Social aspects Social behavior Social determinants of health Social factors Social inequality Social interaction Social Justice Social networks Social Policy Social workers South Asian cultural groups South Asians Southeast Asia Southeast Asian cultural groups Southeast Asian People Southeast Asians Suicidal ideation Video teleconferencing Women Hong Kong United Kingdom China Nepal India Southeast Asia Hong Kong China Women COVID-19 Ethnic minority Hong Kong South Asians Health Southeast Asians Low incidence rate
ISSN:	1475-9276, 1475-9276
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Zusammenfassung:	Background Hong Kong has a relatively low incidence rate of COVID-19 across the globe. Nevertheless, ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, especially South Asians (SAs) and Southeast Asians (SEAs), face numerous physical, mental, social, economic, cultural and religious challenges during the pandemic. This study explores the experiences of SA and SEA women in a predominantly Chinese metropolitan city. Methods Ten SA and SEA women were recruited and face-to-face interviews were conducted. Questions about participants’ daily life experience, physical and mental health conditions, economic situation and social interaction amid COVID-19 pandemic were asked to assess the impact of COVID-19. Results SAs and SEAs have a distinctive family culture, and women experienced significant physical and mental impact of COVID-19 due to their unique gender role in the family. In addition to taking care of their family in Hong Kong, SA and SEA women also had to mentally and financially support family members residing in their home countries. Access to COVID-related information was restricted due to language barrier. Public health measures including social distancing imposed extra burden on ethnic minorities with limited social and religious support. Conclusions Even when COVID-19 incidence rate is relatively low in Hong Kong, the pandemic made life even more challenging for SAs and SEAs, which is a community already struggling with language barriers, financial woes, and discrimination. This in turn could have led to greater health inequalities. Government and civil organizations should take the social determinants of health inequalities into account when implementing COVID-19-related public health policies and strategies.
Bibliographie:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23
ISSN:	1475-9276 1475-9276
DOI:	10.1186/s12939-023-01922-6