Constrained Choices: Migrant Workers' Access to Care in Qatar

This study draws on the constrained choice framework to examine the health and well-being of females in Qatar, with a particular focus on migrant workers.  This framework provides an innovative multi-level model that demonstrates how structural constraints narrow the opportunities and choices available to individuals to achieve and maintain good health (Bird and Reiker 2008).  It articulates how the social policy shapes one’s status, access to resources, preferences and in turn one’s options for making everyday choices that cumulatively impact health. I situate the health-seeking experiences and behaviors of females in Qatar within this model, drawing on qualitative interviews with 100 female patients at the country’s largest healthcare facility. I compare the experiences of migrant women to those of nationals to elucidate how citizenship status further exacerbates women’s limited agency regarding their health.