Development and validation of a reintegration index to assess the status of reintegration among returnee Middle-East Migrant workers in Kurunegala District

Abstract

Background: Reintegration is the least explored phase of the migration cycle. Yet, the reintegration process has a strong influence on the socio-economic and health-related outcomes of returnee migrant workers. The objective of this study was to develop and validate an Index of Reintegration to assess the status of reintegration among returnee Middle-East migrant workers in the Kurunegala District. Methods: A mixed-method consist of qualitative and quantitative approaches were followed for the tool development. In the first-phase primary pool of items was generated following a comprehensive literature review. Further, key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions were conducted with experts, returnee migrant workers, and their family members to validate and to compliment the developing index. In the second phase, principal component analysis was performed on the collected dataset from a survey involving returnee Middle-East migrant workers(n=232). In the third phase, the constructed tool was evaluated and validated using multiple methods. The tool was tested for reliability. Results: The items and domains of the index demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability (25items, α=0.7). The finalized tool consisted of 25 items distinguished under eight (08) factors: economic self-sufficiency, belongingness, support networks, social adaptation, cultural acceptance, access to health services, physical-psychological distress, etc. and explained 60.1% of the total variance during the factor analysis. Conclusions: Reintegration Index is a reliable and valid tool to measure the status of reintegration of returnee migrant-workers. This tool could be applied for different occupational context returnees in determining socio-economic, migration-related, and health-related factors influencing their reintegration into the home-country.