Co-production · Doctors of the World UK
It’s Okay Not to Be Okay: A Wellbeing Guide for Migrants
““You are not alone in this. We stand with you. You and your voice matter.” — National Health Advisors”
The challenge
Mainstream wellbeing advice rarely reflects immigration stress, racism, separation and difficulty accessing healthcare
People seeking sanctuary may be carrying immigration problems, housing and money worries, caring responsibilities, racism, frightening news from home and separation from family at the same time. Generic mental-health advice can make these pressures look like individual coping failures and can rely on services or resources that migrants cannot easily access.
What we did
National Health Advisors rewrote the guide through workshops, stories, creative exercises and a line-by-line critique
Open Routes Research designed a participatory process with Doctors of the World National Health Advisors. Across two workshops, contributors discussed what wellbeing meant in their own words, ‘graffitied’ an older COVID-era guide by crossing out what no longer worked, added missing issues and shared strategies rooted in culture, community and everyday experience. We analysed the workshop material, developed a new structure and wording, and returned the draft for validation and further changes.
What changed
The new guide centres migrant knowledge, mutual support and the realities producing distress
The resulting resource talks directly about migration bureaucracy, racism, isolation and overload while sharing practical ways people in the group support themselves and one another. It makes space for faith, movement, food, creativity, community and formal support, and was written so it can also be used by friends, neighbours and organisations supporting people through difficult periods.
Outputs
Co-produced migrant wellbeing guide; two lived-experience workshops; practical wellbeing and signposting resource: It’s okay not to be okay guide- final. WITHOUT MoL logo