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Abstract :
[en] Undocumented migrants are known to face health-related issues in their countries of residence, often being excluded from formal healthcare. When considering those working in physically demanding jobs, the literature on social determinants of health demonstrates that this is even more concerning, as the health risks involved in their economic activity make them vulnerable to greater and prolonged health deterioration. In this scenario, migrant communities implement various health-seeking strategies in their countries of residence, aiming to overcome gaps and inequalities in healthcare provision. Therefore, such communities may resort to transnational tactics, rely on kinship connections, and use similar services to those they would find at home. Through interviews and participant observation with undocumented Brazilian cleaning workers in Brussels, this article highlights the accessibility issues affecting this community — including bureaucratic barriers and the group's socioeconomic vulnerabilities — and how they articulate formal and informal social protection tactics to (partially) provide for their healthcare needs. Considering how mobility shapes new healthcare landscapes and inspired by the concept of healthcare bricolage (Phillimore, 2019), these strategies include: engaging in transnational healthcare practices, searching for Lusophone professionals within the Belgian healthcare system, privileging familiar medical practices, and activating networks as health-seeking spaces. The results demonstrate that, besides implementing such tactics to fulfill healthcare needs, especially in the case of undocumented participants, these can also originate from a perceived higher quality of the home country's medicines and/or doctors. This analysis is embedded in the literature on Social Determinants of Health and adopts an intersectional lens encompassing the various social realities experienced by these women. The results demonstrate that real and perceived barriers affect the interviewees' healthcare provision. Important consequences of this scenario include the delay on health-seeking behavior and the heavy reliance on private healthcare services.
