Reflection through design: immigrant women's self-reflection on managing health and wellness

Women comprise nearly half of the immigrant population worldwide and are susceptible to a wider range of health challenges compared to immigrant men. We present the findings of four participatory design sessions with immigrant women from the Caribbean to identify health and wellness challenges they faced and to conceptualize technologies to help them manage these issues. Stress, dietary challenges (specifically obesity), mental health, and domestic abuse, as identified by the women, form the focal themes for the design sessions. Their design approaches emphasized rebuilding the support structure, reducing stressors through entertainment and relaxation and encouraging positive gradational lifestyle changes. In conceiving health and wellness technologies for immigrant women, our work highlights opportunities for HCI to consider the role of others (and who benefits) and to reflect on the role of design and the underlying values and themes designs encompass. Finally, we emphasize how the technologies conceived by these women support rather than replace social solutions to the health and wellness challenges faced by these and other immigrant women.