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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1488080
Living infodemics across borders: Experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic among migrants from India living in Norway
Provisionally accepted- 1 Pandemic Centre, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- 2 University of Bergen, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
- 3 Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- 4 Department of Health and Functioning, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
During the COVID-19 pandemic, migrants living in Norway navigated a complex "infodemic", which encompassed diverse health information sources from health authorities and media from both local and their home country. This study aimed to explore the experiences of Indian migrants in Norway related to their encounters with varied, and sometimes inaccurate and conflicting information between India and Norway amidst COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 Indian migrants and data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis yielded five main themes: 1) Transnational sources of information, 2) Drivers for trusting information, 3) Transnational healthcare-seeking behavior, 4) Influences underlying decision-making, and 5) Emotional impact of conflicting information. Our findings highlight the complexities of information consumption and its effects on the cognitive-emotional processes of migrants, discussing the role of factors such as familiarity, emotional ties, and trust. Further, the study identified the need for culturally sensitive health communication interventions, the establishment of trust with migrant communities through accurate information dissemination, and the requirement of strategies to support the emotional wellbeing of migrants in situations when health information varies quickly and differ geographically. The implications of this research extend to the development of effective public health strategies for migrant communities during global health crises.
Keywords: infodemic, Indian migrants, COVID-19, Transnationalism, Norway
Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 10 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kour, Adari, Kumar and Diaz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Prabhjot Kour, Pandemic Centre, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
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