"Fast food psychology" or serious support: Brazilian migrant women talk about their experiences with digital tools for mental health in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors:   , Bueno Ormerod Fabiane 
Published: August 2023

<p><b>Abstract Background: Migrants face specific mental health pressures. In addition, being a woman migrant might increase challenges. Digital tools for mental health and wellbeing (DTMH) have shown the potential to support people’s mental health and overcome some barriers to mental health care. However, there is limited research regarding how DTMH can better support migrants' mental health, and I identified no research about how DTMH can better support the mental health of women migrants in New Zealand. Aim: To investigate how DTMH can better support migrant women’s mental health in New Zealand with a particular focus on Brazilian women.</b></p>
<p>Methods: I used a critical realist approach and sequential mixed-methods, comprising an online survey (n =104) and semi-structured interviews (n=10). Women who migrated to Aotearoa New Zealand at 18 years or over completed a brief online survey (n=104). Survey participants could opt in to be invited for semi-structured interviews to explore the topics more deeply; 48 did so. I purposely selected 10 Brazilian migrant women with varied experiences for the interviews. All 10 agreed and were interviewed. I used descriptive statistics to analyse the online survey data and an inductive thematic analysis to examine the semi-structured interviews. Survey findings were used to refine and focus interview questions as well as to select the interviewees. After each set of results was analysed, I triangulated the data and created a joint display to present the integrated findings on my primary research questions.</p>
<p>Findings: Data from the online survey and semi-structured interviews demonstrated that being a migrant in Aotearoa New Zealand is hard and Brazilian migrant women (as well as migrant women, in general) are under pressure. Many seek help for their mental wellbeing; however, they experience this as a challenging journey. Many use digital resources to support their mental health. However, rather than using DTMH, which were built purposely to support mental health, they often used social media and internet resources to help connect to others and find social support. Integrated findings highlighted that they were open to DTMH but had usually found these unsatisfying or inaccessible (paid content). There were two key areas of insight regarding how DTMH could better meet participants needs. First, better promotion to increase DTMH reach, so migrant communities are aware of these resources. Second, improving DTMH engagement, improving features of the tools themselves such as increased chat or communication features, being free, and including a focus on active steps for mental wellbeing. There were key findings outside the primary research question: experiences of racism and discrimination were a key cause of distress, and many experienced a lack of culturally competent health care in Aotearoa New Zealand. Conclusions: This exploratory mixed-methods research suggests that Digital Tools for Mental Health have promise for supporting migrant women’s mental wellbeing. However, tailored promotion and specific areas of development of the tools appear important for Brazilian women in New Zealand. These findings can help support the wellbeing of this group and offer insights that may be valuable for supporting other migrant minorities. Keywords: migrant, immigrant, woman, digital, tools, mental health, wellbeing.</p>