Interviewing Sub-Saharan Migrants in Switzerland About HIV/AIDS: Critical Reflections on the Interview Process

• Published in: Journal of transcultural nursing 2010-01, Vol.21 (1), p.23-28
• Main Authors: Bischofberger, Iren, Roost Vischer, Lilo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adult; Africa South of the Sahara - ethnology; AIDS; Cultural Competency; Culture; Emigrants and Immigrants - statistics & numerical data; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; HIV; HIV Infections - ethnology; HIV Infections - nursing; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Interviews; Interviews as Topic - methods; Interviews as Topic - standards; Language; Male; Middle Aged; Noncitizens; Nursing; Nursing Research; Prejudice; Qualitative Research; Scholarly publishing; Switzerland; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1043-6596; 1552-7832
• DOI: 10.1177/1043659609348621

Although research underpinnings for the interview process are often discussed in the scholarly community, reports of explicit experiences about this step are often insufficient or lacking in research publications on migrant health and in the context of HIV/ AIDS. The authors highlight the challenges they encountered in conducting qualitative interviews in a multilingual, transcultural setting with Sub-Saharan migrants on HIV prevention and care.The authors discuss challenges and solutions during the conduct of interviews. They particularly highlight strategies on interview conduct, participant focus, and interviewer’s behavior, which supported good quality in their research interviews. The main aim of the article is to critically reflect experiences and to suggest successful methods during interview phases with regard to the migrant setting and the sensitivity of the research topic.