Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth BH1 3LH, UK.
Department of Community Medicine, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha 442001, India.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Sep 28;16(19):3655. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16193655.
Most health research on Nepali migrant workers in India is on sexual health, whilst work, lifestyle and health care access issues are under-researched. The qualitative study was carried out in two cities of Maharashtra State in 2017. Twelve focus group discussions (FGDs) and five in-depth interviews were conducted with Nepali male and female migrant workers. Similarly, eight interviews were conducted with stakeholders, mostly representatives of organisations working for Nepali migrants in India using social capital as a theoretical foundation. Five main themes emerged from the analysis: (i) accommodation; (ii) lifestyle, networking and risk-taking behaviours; (iii) work environment; (iv) support from local organisations; and (v) health service utilisation. Lack of basic amenities in accommodation, work-related hazards such as lack of safety measures at work or safety training, reluctance of employers to organise treatment for work-related accidents, occupational health issues such as long working hours, high workload, no/limited free time, discrimination by co-workers were identified as key problems. Nepali migrants have limited access to health care facilities due to their inability to prove their identity. Health system of India also discriminates as some treatment is restricted to Indian nationals. The strength of this study is the depth it offers, its limitations includes a lack of generalizability, the latter is a generic issue in such qualitative research. This study suggests risks to Nepali migrant workers' health in India range from accommodation to workplace and from their own precarious lifestyle habit to limited access to health care facilities. We must conduct a quantitative study on a larger population to establish the prevalence of the above mentioned issues and risks. Furthermore, the effectiveness of Nepali migrant support organisations in mitigating these risks needs to be researched.
大多数关于在印度的尼泊尔移民工人的健康研究都集中在性健康方面，而工作、生活方式和获得医疗保健的问题则研究不足。这项定性研究于 2017 年在马哈拉施特拉邦的两个城市进行。研究人员对尼泊尔男性和女性移民工人进行了 12 次焦点小组讨论（FGD）和 5 次深入访谈。同样，研究人员还对利益攸关方进行了 8 次访谈，这些利益攸关方主要是在印度为尼泊尔移民工作的组织的代表，使用社会资本作为理论基础。分析结果产生了五个主要主题：（i）住宿；（ii）生活方式、社交网络和冒险行为；（iii）工作环境；（iv）当地组织的支持；（v）卫生服务的利用。住宿缺乏基本设施、工作相关的危害，如工作场所缺乏安全措施或安全培训、雇主不愿为工作相关事故组织治疗、职业健康问题，如长时间工作、高工作量、没有/有限的空闲时间、同事的歧视等，被确定为主要问题。由于无法证明自己的身份，尼泊尔移民获得医疗保健设施的机会有限。印度的卫生系统也存在歧视，因为一些治疗仅限于印度国民。这项研究的优势在于它的深度，其局限性包括缺乏普遍性，这是这种定性研究中普遍存在的问题。本研究表明，尼泊尔移民工人在印度面临的健康风险从住宿到工作场所，从他们自己不稳定的生活方式习惯到有限的医疗保健设施的机会都有。我们必须在更大的人群中进行一项定量研究，以确定上述问题和风险的普遍性。此外，还需要研究尼泊尔移民支持组织在减轻这些风险方面的有效性。
