Well-Being in Refugee Women Experiencing Cultural Transition

This article presents a situation-specific theory of well-being in refugee women experiencing cultural transition. The theory resulted from 2 studies, an ethnography and a community-based collaborative action research project, with refugee women from South Sudan, who were resettled to the United States. The theory extends the middle-range theory of transition to include cultural transition as a distinct type of transition with a unique set of properties and conditions including 3 phases-separation, liminality, and integration. Community action research is discussed as a culturally relevant intervention for nurses working with immigrants and refugee populations to foster well-being in resettlement.