Impact of COVID-19 on health disparities between migrant and non-migrant households: the case of Dearborn, Michigan

ABSTRACT

Objectives:

Studies on immigration have shown that cultural changes can positively or negatively affect psychological, behavioral, and physical outcomes when different cultures settle into a new host community or country. The majority of research done in the United States and North America has focused on these changes for larger immigrant and minority groups such as Hispanics/Latinos and Asians. However, in the United States, there is a sub-group of immigrants that is largely understudied, resulting in misunderstood data on mental and physical health: Arab Americans. This study assesses mental health disparities between immigrant and non-immigrant populations, before and after COVID-19 restrictions, in Dearborn, MI, a city that has one of the largest concentrations of Arab immigrants in the nation.

Design:

Using an online survey instrument, this study assessed mental health disparities before and since COVID-19 restrictions, and stressors induced since the pandemic for immigrants and non-immigrants in Dearborn, MI.

Results:

Through inferential statistics and logistic regressions, results indicate that immigrants are less likely to have healthcare coverage, have lower annual incomes, lower educational attainment, and experience continuously higher mental health issues before the pandemic than non-immigrants faced during the pandemic.

Conclusion:

This study reinforces that the Arab-American immigrant population is a disadvantaged sub-group and faces considerable stress and mental health concerns as an acculturating population. This stress gets exacerbated when a worldwide event such as the COVID-19 pandemic strikes. Oversight of this population’s health issues results in the inability to receive appropriate social services and healthcare that is vital to address this community’s concerns.

KEYWORDS:

• : Health disparities
• Middle Eastern
• social services
• immigrants
• COVID-19

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Urban Collaborators, Michigan State University.