Purpose: With the growing number of immigrants in Korea, immigrant health has become a significant public health concern. This study aimed to explore immigrant women's motivations for and experiences of participating in a community-based prenatal pilot program, with the goal of informing the future development and expansion of multicultural-friendly educational content and effective delivery systems to promote health.Methods: Among 19 participants in the program, six immigrant women who had lived in Korea for over three years were invited to participate in an exit group interview. The two-hour session was moderated by two qualitative research experts, digitally recorded, and transcribed verbatim. A content analysis was conducted using triangulation to ensure credibility and depth.Results: Participants were motivated to join the program both to receive help and to offer help to others. Their experiences included a sense of comfort and joy from receiving accurate health information and forming new relationships, as well as building trust through educational and emotional support. They also expressed unmet needs, such as expanding health education content and including their family members as part of the target audience. Furthermore, they wished to be acknowledged as active contributors to Korean society by serving as peer mentors.Conclusions: There is a need to develop culture-friendly health education programs for improving immigrant health. Bilingual and bicultural immigrant women can play vital roles as community health workers, promoting public health and health equity. This approach may also support their social reintegration and empowerment.
Jang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.