{"title":"Health in Swedish integration policies - a discourse analysis.","authors":"Sara Svanholm, Heidi Carlerby, Eija Viitasara","doi":"10.1080/22423982.2025.2463193","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous research has indicated that migrants risk facing inequities both internationally and in Sweden; integration policies are therefore important to study. How health is described in policies affects how health interventions are approached. Discourse analysis offers a way of understanding how health is framed within the integration policies affecting newly arrived migrants in Sweden. The aim was to analyse the health discourses used in Swedish and European Union (EU) integration policies. A discourse analysis, inspired by Fairclough, was performed on integration policies related to Sweden, at local, regional, national and EU levels. The policies of the Establishment Program, which focuses on newly arrived migrants (refugees, persons of subsidiary protection and their relatives who arrived through family reunification), were chosen for the analysis, and 17 documents were analysed in total. The analysis of the documents showed how the health discourses were expressed in the form of the medicalisation of health, the individualisation of health and the risk of ill health. A pathogenic approach to health was visible in the policies and individual disease prevention or rehabilitation was the main health focus. The results showed similarities to previous research highlighting how a particular understanding of health in a neoliberal context is formed.</p>","PeriodicalId":13930,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","volume":"84 1","pages":"2463193"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Circumpolar Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2025.2463193","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/2/6 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Previous research has indicated that migrants risk facing inequities both internationally and in Sweden; integration policies are therefore important to study. How health is described in policies affects how health interventions are approached. Discourse analysis offers a way of understanding how health is framed within the integration policies affecting newly arrived migrants in Sweden. The aim was to analyse the health discourses used in Swedish and European Union (EU) integration policies. A discourse analysis, inspired by Fairclough, was performed on integration policies related to Sweden, at local, regional, national and EU levels. The policies of the Establishment Program, which focuses on newly arrived migrants (refugees, persons of subsidiary protection and their relatives who arrived through family reunification), were chosen for the analysis, and 17 documents were analysed in total. The analysis of the documents showed how the health discourses were expressed in the form of the medicalisation of health, the individualisation of health and the risk of ill health. A pathogenic approach to health was visible in the policies and individual disease prevention or rehabilitation was the main health focus. The results showed similarities to previous research highlighting how a particular understanding of health in a neoliberal context is formed.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Circumpolar Health is published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Circumpolar Health Research Network [CircHNet]. The journal follows the tradition initiated by its predecessor, Arctic Medical Research. The journal specializes in circumpolar health. It provides a forum for many disciplines, including the biomedical sciences, social sciences, and humanities as they relate to human health in high latitude environments. The journal has a particular interest in the health of indigenous peoples. It is a vehicle for dissemination and exchange of knowledge among researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and those they serve.
International Journal of Circumpolar Health welcomes Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Short Communications, Book Reviews, Dissertation Summaries, History and Biography, Clinical Case Reports, Public Health Practice, Conference and Workshop Reports, and Letters to the Editor.