Connected health

In the last couple of years, Europe has witnessed one of the biggest refugee crises since World War II, a phenomenon that has fostered important debates amongst politicians, journalists and ordinary citizens. Since 2015, thousands of people, prominently originating from Syria, have been seeking asylum in Europe, which posed important questions and worries concerning the integration of these new populations. Such mass exodus has particularly brought numerous challenges in the healthcare sector, which has simultaneously affected the displaced individuals and the host countries as they struggle to provide healthcare services to support refugees’ specific needs. Although often disregarded as a factor of integration, health constitutes a crucial marker for supporting newcomers’ assimilation processes. Moreover, due to the specific mental stressors associated with the process of migration and resettlement, there is a serious need to provide refugees with cultural sensitive and adequate healthcare support. In recent years, technology has been increasingly considered to provide solutions to several obstacles affecting refugees’ lives. The current European refugee crisis brought about a new paradigm of migration where internet technologies have proven to be vital and transformative tools. The use of digital technologies for health has been increasingly adopted by health providers and patients, a phenomenon which is generally referred to as connected health. However, there is an overall lack of information about the potential of social media to support health integration among refugees. While the rapid development and adoption of ICTs tools have triggered the development of research on new communication uses and implications, there has been limited examination of the use of Internet based platforms by populations in extreme circumstances. By means of in-depth qualitative interviews and explorative methods of research, the present study aims at investigating how social media can positively impact refugees’ health integration in the Netherlands. The qualitative method of conducting in-depth interviews was considered the most appropriate and effective to address the research questions as it provided an insight as to participants’ opinions and experiences by means of comprehensive speech interaction. The research data will be drawn from 10 in-depth interviews of asylum seekers in the Netherlands.