TY - JOUR
T1 - Peer Support and Mental Health of Migrant Domestic Workers
T2 - A Scoping Review
AU - Ho, Ken Hok Man
AU - Yang, Chen
AU - Leung, Alex Kwun Yat
AU - Bressington, Daniel
AU - Chien, Wai Tong
AU - Cheng, Qijin
AU - Cheung, Daphne Sze Ki
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was commissioned by the Wellcome Trust Limited.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - The effectiveness of peer support in improving mental health and well-being has been well documented for vulnerable populations. However, how peer support is delivered to migrant domestic workers (MDWs) to support their mental health is still unknown. This scoping review aimed to synthesize evidence on existing peer support services for improving mental health among MDWs. We systematically searched eight electronic databases, as well as grey literature. Two reviewers independently performed title/abstract and full-text screening, and data extraction. Twelve articles were finally included. Two types of peer support were identified from the included studies, i.e., mutual aid and para-professional trained peer support. MDWs mainly seek support from peers through mutual aid for emotional comfort. The study’s findings suggest that the para-professional peer support training program was highly feasible and culturally appropriate for MDWs. However, several barriers were identified to affect the successful implementation of peer support, such as concerns about emotion contagion among peers, worries about disclosure of personal information, and lack of support from health professionals. Culture-specific peer support programs should be developed in the future to overcome these barriers to promote more effective mental health practices.
AB - The effectiveness of peer support in improving mental health and well-being has been well documented for vulnerable populations. However, how peer support is delivered to migrant domestic workers (MDWs) to support their mental health is still unknown. This scoping review aimed to synthesize evidence on existing peer support services for improving mental health among MDWs. We systematically searched eight electronic databases, as well as grey literature. Two reviewers independently performed title/abstract and full-text screening, and data extraction. Twelve articles were finally included. Two types of peer support were identified from the included studies, i.e., mutual aid and para-professional trained peer support. MDWs mainly seek support from peers through mutual aid for emotional comfort. The study’s findings suggest that the para-professional peer support training program was highly feasible and culturally appropriate for MDWs. However, several barriers were identified to affect the successful implementation of peer support, such as concerns about emotion contagion among peers, worries about disclosure of personal information, and lack of support from health professionals. Culture-specific peer support programs should be developed in the future to overcome these barriers to promote more effective mental health practices.
KW - mental health
KW - migrant domestic worker
KW - peer support
KW - scoping review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132442050&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph19137617
DO - 10.3390/ijerph19137617
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85132442050
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 13
M1 - 7617
ER -