Health displacement experience among mothers in conflict-ridden locales of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)

• Main Author: Abubacar, Zuhaina B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Mothers > Health and hygiene > Philippines > Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/5672
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study aims to describe the displacement experiences as well as the strategies used in dealing with health-related problem and risks among mothers caught in midst of local armed conflicts in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao(ARMM). It also examines how these experiences reckoned in three episodes from the start of fleeing to the evacuation centers vary in relation to the features of the armed conflicts and their personal characteristics. This study used a qualitative-descriptive research design. To reduce the limitations on memory recall, a total of 15 recently displaced mothers, due to the recent armed conflict outbreak between the Government of the Philippines and armed separatist groups in Marawi City, were interviewed at the evacuation centers in Iligan City. Results of the study reveals that displacement experiences of the participants are analogous to the status of their health, when the pattern of experience changes, the health status follows. There are six conditions of displacement experiences that have a great impact on the health condition of the mothers before (place of origin), during (transition/journey) and after (resettlement) armed conflict. These are the source of income, children's education, daily struggles and difficulties, social interaction, family support [financial] and mental state. These conditions tend to fluctuate in the three stages of the mothers displacement experiences, when this happens, various forms of health-related problems and risks were reported to occur, each episode or stage differs from the other. However, most of the health-related issues emerged during the transition period and inclines to carry on to the resettlement. The strategies employed to deal with these was mostly being optimistic, joining recreational activities and taking prescribed medicines in the later stage. Amongst the types of armed conflicts, insurgence was the most destructive due to the extent of its damages and the longer duration of encounter. Lastly, the number of children, is likely to have great influence on the mothers, more so during the transition period. It both serves as a hindering as well as facilitating factors in the mental state of the mothers.