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Migrant access to emergency health care: The significance of emotions

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Migrant utilisation of emergency services is typically framed as either premature or delayed, positioning temporal responsiveness as central to patient outcomes and system efficiency. While these studies acknowledge structural barriers, such as system navigation, affordability and access, they pay less attention to the role that emotional and cultural processes might play in shaping how migrants recognise, interpret, and act upon health crisis. Building on recent attention to emotions in healthcare, this study interrogates the role of emotions in the emergency healthcare practices of older Indian migrants (aged 50+) living in Melbourne, Australia. Reflecting on qualitative interview and focus group data, we examine how emotions such as fear, shame, hesitation, and uncertainty shape emergency health practices. Our findings indicate that emotional responses are not incidental but rather emerge as central to the way care is navigated, delayed, or resisted. These emotions emerge from culturally specific understandings of illness and family responsibility and are further shaped by the challenges of adapting to unfamiliar healthcare systems. By centring emotion as both socially and culturally embedded, this study contributes to understandings of how health decisions are shaped not only by structural issues such as access, but also by being deeply situated in moral and emotional worlds.

Source: Social Science & Medicine

Authors: Simran Sandhu, Raelene Wilding, Sabrina Gupta

Institution: La Trobe University

Language: English

Topic: Migration, Identity, and Health

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,800

Funders: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, La Trobe University