Wellbeing has four dimensions which are important for migrants:
The physical state centres on one’s health and sense of wellness, satisfying physical needs through a healthy lifestyle.
The material state centres on essential needs such as shelter, food and financial resources.
The mental state centres on the need to learn, grow, achieve, to be recognised and accepted.
The spiritual state centres on a person’s religious/philosophical needs and may provide powerful support for values, morals, strength of character, and endurance in difficult and dangerous circumstances (Department of the Army, 2007).
If all these dimensions work together, there is a sense of wellbeing and people are more equipped to deal with various problems and stresses in life.
Health is very vital for the intermarried Filipino women because health is vital to their existence, especially in a country like Australia where everyone is health conscious. Health for them is the primary source of happiness; the main reason is that being sick makes them
feel lonely and particularly homesick of family members in their homeland. In the Philippines if someone is sick in the family, he/she is being served and looked after by their parents or siblings. They are well looked after by their devoted family members. Filipino women find it hard to be sick in their new home especially if they are coming from the rural parts of the Philippines where they rely on herbal medicines. When they get sick they are looking for the herbs that they used to drink even though there are lots of tablets or medicines available in the chemists here in Australia.
Before intermarried Filipino women come to Australia, they apply at the Australian Embassy for a spouse visa and once granted the visa, they are given some information about living in Australia, particularly about health services. They tend to have a high expectation of the health services, due to the information received from others who came to Australia earlier.
For the intermarried Filipino women, health and wellbeing is something that is mutually inclusive, which means if a person is healthy he/she is free from all the stress and hassles physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Wellbeing in the Filipino eyes is a satisfaction about everything in life. According to Richard Eckersley (2004), wellbeing is more than about living “the good life”; it is about having meaning in life, about fulfilling our potential and feeling that our lives are worthwhile. For intermarried Filipino women, to attain a good health and wellbeing is hard in the first few years because they have to cope with the new environment, new cultural values, new
Health and wellbeing of intermarried Filipino women
food, new family, new set up and so forth. When the women move to Australia, their families expect that they are physically, mentally and emotionally looked after by their spouses and the public health services.
Changes in the type of medical care after migration may also affect health (Jehobo, 2001). Migrants tend to bring with them several types of medical systems and medical services have accompanied migration from immigrants from all around the world. One example is Chinese herbal medicine. Immigrants from countries that do not culturally and traditionally practice biomedicine (the most dominant medical system in Australia) may be faced with problems choosing an appropriate medical service and the decision to use mainstream medical services may affect their health. Some may decide to remain with the service that they relied on in their original country. For example, it was reported by Jehobo (2001) that many Vietnamese immigrants often rely on Vietnamese therapies to treat physical illnesses due to their lack of faith in biomedicine.
Although there may be changes in health, the changes do not necessarily have negative effects. For instance, an individual may have migrated from a place of poverty to a country where there is better sanitation, easier access to medical advice and nutritious food. Thus, one can expect that the general health would improve in these situations. It has also been argued that a migrant’s health would be better than a native (or non-migrant) (Jehobo, 2001).
Conclusion
Migration to a new country is a challenge to many, particularly for those whose culture is very different from that of the target country. It is a journey which requires emotional intelligence of the migrant to handle possible culture shocks. For intermarried Filipino women, life in a new country can bring both joy and misery depending on the support that they receive during their acculturation process. Living in remote and rural Australia is a big adventure to many intermarried Filipino women. It can be a paradise for those who are enthusiastically keen to take the challenge. It is also an exile for those whose expectation and dream have never been achieved.
Acknowledgement: Dr Quynh Lê and A/Prof Sue Kilpatrick
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