Voices across difference: a qualitative exploration of health-promoting dialogues between older migrant women and researchers in Norway

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the urgent need for more equitable and inclusive health research, particularly focusing on groups underrepresented in public health development, such as older migrant women. Despite increasing population diversity in high-income countries, little research focuses on the health needs and challenges of this group in an inclusive manner. To address this gap, older migrant women and researchers in a Norwegian city participated in sustained health-promoting dialogues over one year. These dialogues aimed to enhance health knowledge among the women and to increase researchers’ awareness of the women’s lived experiences and challenges. Guided by the concept of health-promoting dialogues and health promotion, this qualitative study explored how both groups experienced this dialogue process. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews with eight older migrant women and seven researchers and analyzed thematically. The analysis identified three main themes: knowledge gain by both groups, dynamics of collaboration, and significance of power dynamics, with related subthemes. Findings show that health-promoting dialogues were experienced as mutually enriching, enabling both groups to acquire new knowledge. Older migrant women developed a deeper understanding of their health conditions and their vital role in contributing to the research while researchers gained more insight into the women´s challenges and strengths. However, persistent language barriers shaped the dynamics of communication in complex ways for both groups. The study highlights that health-promoting dialogues between researchers and marginalized populations fosters collaboration, mutual learning, trust, and empowerment, highlighting the potential of facilitating such dialogues as a framework for inclusive and health promotion research.