Manifestation, causes and approach to mental distress among the population of migrant and refugee women in Ecuador and Panama: a qualitative study with key informants.

Introduction: Human mobility in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region has increased in the last decade, as well as the proportion of women within this population. The difficulties they experience in the country of origin, in their journey and in the receiving country have a negative impact on their mental well-being. In order to gain knowledge about the manifestations of mental distress in the population of migrant women in the region, the causes of such discomfort, the mental health support available to them and proposals for interventions that promote their mental health, we carried out this exploratory qualitative study. The study focused on the towns of Guayaquil and Tulcán in Ecuador and Panama City.

Methods: We employed phenomenological qualitative design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 37 key informants residing in the three study locations. These were conducted in Spanish in February and March 2021 and recorded in audio. The transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using the thematic analysis methodology.

Results: We identified 5 themes and 18 sub-themes from the data. All participants had perceived manifestations of mental distress in migrant women in their communities, citing migratory grief, unmet expectations, uncertainty, violence and discrimination as some of its main causes. Participants cited the family, community, government institutions, international agencies, and civil society organizations as sources of psychoemotional support in the population of study. Several informants agreed on the importance of creating specific care spaces for the migrant women's population, implementing peer support groups, providing educational and informative sessions that promote mental well-being, and providing comprehensive responses to the needs of migrant women, including mental and physical health, but also their causes.

Conclusions: This study represents a first step to improve current strategies for the prevention and care of mental distress in the population of migrant women in LAC. Evidence-based interventions such as the one in our study can contribute to reducing inequities based on gender and migration status in mental health and access to mental health services in the region.