Addressing future challenges within migration and integration

- Migration and integration are profoundly complex social processes that impact the lives of migrants and host societies in countless ways. Investigating these subjects requires multiple perspectives and research methods. Equally crucial is the exchange of ideas and insights across disciplinary boundaries, says Andrey Tibajev, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Women's and Children's Health and one of the organisers of the conference.

The conference unites migration and integration researchers from across Sweden to showcase and discuss their state-of-the-art research projects. The organisers of the conference are the MigraMed research environment here at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health and the Uppsala Immigration Lab at the Department of Economics. This interdisciplinary approach is the most effective way to advance research, which is why this conference places a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary collaboration.

- Our primary objective, as organisers, is to facilitate knowledge dissemination, foster community-building, and explore strategies to address future challenges. The presentations cover a broad spectrum of topics including a panel discussion of the future direction of our field with some of Sweden’s leading researchers within migration and integration, says Andrey.

Improve care for migrants

Andrey has a postdoctoral position in reproductive health, migration, and social norms within the research environment MigraMed. MigraMed is one of the larger research environments within the National research programme within migration and integration hosted by the Swedish Research Council. The overall goal is to contribute to improved care for migrants by increasing the knowledge of how value conflicts and cultural change are to be managed in the health care sector.

- We collect and analyse data on migrants, the healthcare sector, and the interaction between the two. We have fantastic surveys and interviews with both newly arrived migrants and healthcare providers, ethnographic observations of healthcare in action, and analyses of policy documents, among others. At present, our team is deeply engaged in the process of data analysis and academic writing says Andrey.

If you want to read more about MigraMed’s research, Andrey recommends one of their latest publications: Paradoxes in the cultural doula concept for migrant women: Implications for gender-inclusive care versus migrant-friendly maternity care. The paper studies the fascinating cultural doula concept, its purpose and its implications for the maternal health of migrant women.