An Inquiry of Health Narratives of South Asian Immigrant and International Communities in the U.S.

Munira Mutmainna

Advisor: Isidore K Dorpenyo, PhD, Department of English

Committee Members: Heidi Y. Lawrence, McKinley Green

Online Location, https://gmu.zoom.us/j/93484646469?pwd=eTV0RWRUdEM5S1Nvcis2alZITnZVQT09
June 28, 2024, 11:30 AM to 02:00 PM

Abstract:

The U.S. is home to more than 40 million people that were born in another country (Budiman, 2020). Despite the ever-growing number of immigrants, its healthcare system does not seem to make the most use of its diverse communities. As Singh, Rodriguez-Lainz and Kogan (2013) shared, many of the U.S. national data systems do not maintain routine reports and analysis of health statistics of immigrant communities. Immigrants coming to the U.S. face several obstacles that are uniquely tied to their individual and community identities as well as their identities as immigrants. Navigating the healthcare system in the U.S. is one such aspect that impacts and is impacted by the lived experiences of these immigrant communities. With about 23% of legal U.S. immigrants and 45% of undocumented immigrants that are medically uninsured (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2020), it is extremely important to shift our attention to the healthcare rhetoric of immigrant communities in the U.S. The aim of this dissertation study is to explore the health narratives of these immigrant communities in the U.S. through participant interviews to collect data using a narrative-based approach. In doing so, it attempts to uncover how healthcare and access work for these communities, what their experiences are as patients, caregivers, information-seekers and their overall narratives around health. Because immigrant communities in the U.S. comprise a huge variety of individuals from different countries and cultures, this dissertation focuses on the South-Asian communities. The central research questions addressed here are:

1. How do South Asian immigrant and international student communities in the U.S. experience the U.S. healthcare system?
2. What are some of the biggest challenges South Asian immigrant and international student communities experience in approaching and/or accessing healthcare? How do they navigate their way around these challenges?
3. What do these narratives of immigrant/international student communities tell us about access and healthcare in the U.S.?

As the initial review of research indicates, scholarship that focuses on South Asian immigrant health narratives is largely lacking, especially in the fields of technical communication and rhetoric of health and medicine, two fields that are especially equipped to address peoples’ lived experiences and issues around access and equity. Narratives are open-ended, personal and “contain an invitation for others to participate in the resolution” (Freach, 2013) and “can influence popular opinion and grassroots coalitions” (Clark, 2008). They hold the power to influence our perception of a group or community and how they exist in society, which can, in the long-term, influence the policies shaping their lives. In highlighting immigrant and international/multilingual communities, I situate this work at the intersection of technical communication and rhetoric of health and medicine by bringing in their personal narratives around health that shape and regulate their lives and identities, which can further inform our field, lead to more scholarly conversations and pedagogical practices surrounding access in healthcare.