A qualitative study among women immigrants from Somalia – experiences from primary health care multimodal pain rehabilitation in Sweden

AbstractBackground: Immigrants often experience difficulties with acculturation and post migratory stress after arrival in a host country and studies report poor health, chronic pain and depression. This is a challenge for primary health care and interventions need to be evaluated.Objectives: To explore the experiences of a group of women from Somalia who took part in a multimodal pain rehabilitation programme in primary healthcare in Northern Sweden.Methods: Seven individual interviews a few months after participation, and a focus group discussion one year after the programme were conducted and analysed with Grounded theory.Results: A core category regained life emerged from the data. This was described as a process in two categories: panic and connection. The participants experienced that the programme was helpful and that the pain was reduced. They became more open-minded; got new ideas and knowledge; were helped to improve their societal adaptation and integration; experienced that they were not alone...