Jo Vearey

Assoc Prof Jo Vearey

Associate Professor
Institution: African Centre for Migration & Society, University of the Witwatersrand
Current Institution Location: South Africa

Email: jovearey@gmail.com
Phone Number:  27117174033
Website: Go to website

Address:
PO Box 76, Wits, 2050

Migration Health Research Area/Expertise
I currently hold a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award and coordinate the Migration and Health Project Southern Africa (maHp) at the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. My engagement with migration and health included my doctoral research (completed in 2010) that explored local level responses to migration, informal settlements, and HIV in Johannesburg. My research involves mixed methodologies, including policy analysis; cross-sectional household surveys; interviews; focus group discussions; participatory photography projects; and, participant observation in policy processes. With an explicit focus on generating research to inform improved responses to migration and health – particularly for marginalized population groups, including sex workers, migrants and residents of informal settlements – I am committed to developing ways to ensure that the voice of those affected is heard by policymakers and programme implementers. I have a strong interest in research ethics and the ways in which research responds to the needs of society, and how research is translated and taken-up into practice. Linked to this, I have coordinated and hosted policy dialogues in partnership with state and civil society structures to explore issues of migration and health, including the sharing of research findings and collective development of future research agendas – at both national and city-levels. The research I have carried out over the last five years includes: an assessment of local-level responses to migration and HIV; exploration of the linkages between migration, food security and HIV; mapping and assessments of regional and national responses to migration and health; participatory photography work with migrant sex workers; analysis of policy processes relating to migration and health at an international, regional and national level; investigating urban inequality, the social determinants of health and migration; and, responses to HIV and migration in post-conflict situations in Africa.

Research Focus/Expertise on Relevant Migrant Categories
Internal Migration
Migrant Workers (Adolescents, Adults)

International/Cross-Border Migration
Patient mobility across borders (Children, Adolescents, Adults)
Refugees (Children, Adolescents, Adults)
Seasonal farm workers (Children, Adolescents, Adults)
Asylum seekers (Children, Adolescents, Adults)

Relevant Publications

Title Author Year Published Link to Publication
Towards a migration-aware health system in South Africa: A strategic opportunity to address health inequity J. Vearey, M. Modisenyane, and J. Hunter-Adams
A global research agenda on migration, mobility, and health J. Hanefeld, J. Vearey, N. Lunt, et al.
Healthy migration: A public health and development imperative for south(ern) Africa J. Vearey
Negotiating the city: exploring the intersecting vulnerabilities of non- national migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg, South Africa R. Walker, J. Vearey, and L. Nencel
Exploring local-level responses to migration and urban health in Hillbrow: the Johannesburg Migrant Health Forum J. Vearey, K. Thomson, T. Sommers, and C. Sprague
Beyond the single story: creative research approaches with migrant sex workers in South Africa E. Oliveira and J. Vearey
Urban Health in Johannesburg: Migration, Exclusion and Inequality J. Vearey
Giving Birth in a Foreign Land: Exploring the Maternal Healthcare Experiences of Zimbabwean Migrant Women Living in Johannesburg, South Africa T. Makandwa and J. Vearey
Exploring the migration profiles of primary healthcare users in South Africa J. Vearey, T. de Gruchy, M. Kamndaya, H. Walls, C. Chetty-Makkan, J. Hanefeld
“Son of the Soil…Daughters of the Land”: poetry writing as a strategy of citizen-making for lesbian, gay, and bisexual migrants and asylum seekers in Johannesburg L. Dill, J. Vearey, E. Oliveira, and G. Martinez Castillo
Understanding healthcare and population mobility in southern Africa: The case of South Africa H. Walls, J. Vearey, M. Modisenyane, C. Chetty-Makkan, S. Charalambous, R. Smith, and J. Hanefeld
Images of place: Visuals from migrant women sex workers in South Africa E. Oliveira and J. Vearey
Social Capital and Livelihoods in Johannesburg: Differential Advantages and Unexpected Outcomes among Internal Migrants, Foreign-Born Migrants, and Long-Term South African Residents T. W. Myroniuk and J. Vearey
HIV, population mobility, and the post-conflict nexus: unpacking complexity J. Vearey
Dietary diversity of formal and informal residents in Johannesburg, South Africa S. Drimie, M. Faber, J. Vearey, and L. Nunez
Syrian Refugees: between rocky crisis in Syria and hard inaccessibility to healthcare services in Lebanon and Jordan Z. El-Khatib, D. Scales, J. Vearey, and B. Forsberg
Migration Status, Work Conditions and Health Utilization of Female Sex Workers in Three South African Cities M. Richter, M. F. Chersich, J. Vearey, B. Sartorius, M. Temmerman, and S. Luchters
Sampling in an Urban Environment: Overcoming Complexities and Capturing Differences J. Vearey
HIV prevention in the workplace and beyond: the importance of engaging with migration, urban livelihoods and the “informal economy” in South Africa J. Vearey, L. Núñez, M. Richter, and K. Moyo
Challenging urban health: towards an improved local government response to migration, informal settlements and HIV in Johannesburg, South Africa J. Vearey
Learning from HIV: exploring migration and health in South Africa J. Vearey
Who cares? The impact of HIV-related sickness on migration patterns in South Africa L. Núñez, J. Vearey, and S. Drimie
Urban health in Johannesburg: the importance of place in understanding intra-urban inequalities in a context of migration and HIV J. Vearey, I. Palmary, L. Thomas, L. Núñez, and S. Drimie
Hidden spaces and urban health: exploring the tactics of rural migrants navigating the City of Gold J. Vearey
Good treatment outcomes among foreigners receiving antiretroviral therapy in Johannesburg, South Africa K. McCarthy, M. F. Chersich, J. Vearey, G. Meyer-Rath, A. Jaffer, S. Simpwalo, and W.D.F. Venter
Migration, access to ART and survivalist livelihood strategies in Johannesburg J. Vearey
Urban Forum Special Issue: (Well)Being in the City: a focus on health and migration in Johannesburg J. Vearey
Mobility, migration and generalised HIV epidemics: a focus on sub-Saharan Africa J. Vearey
‘Know me! But, remember that this is only part of who I am’: a participatory photo research project with migrant women sex workers in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa E. Oliveira and J. Vearey
Migration and sex work in South Africa: key concerns for gender and health M. Richter and J. Vearey
A World Class African host for whom? Implications of hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup on the lived experiences of migrant sex workers in Johannesburg, South Africa J. Vearey and M. Richter
Migration, urban health and inequality in Johannesburg J. Vearey
Migration, HIV and access to public health care in Southern Africa J. Vearey
A Photo Essay: Migration and Sex Work in South Africa E. Oliveira and J. Vearey
Working the City: experiences of migrant women in inner-city Johannesburg J. Vearey, E. Oliveira, T. Madzimure, and B. Ntini
Migration and Health Delivery Systems in Southern Africa J. Vearey
Deportation and Public Health: Concerns around the ending of the Zimbabwean Documentation Process J. Vearey and M. Wilhelm-Solomon
Towards improving forced migrant access to health and psychosocial rights in urban South Africa - a focus on Johannesburg J. Vearey and L. Nunez

Relevant Projects

Title Year Published Region/Country Role in the Project Main Outcome Link to Study Reports and publications
(2015) Wellcome Trust Investigator Award. (un)healthy migration in southern Africa. Principal Investigator
(2015) National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa: (un)Healthy movement in southern Africa: towards improved responses to communicable diseases. Research Development Grants for Y-Rated Researchers Principal Investigator
Migration, mobility and health in South Africa Southern Africa
South Africa
Collaborator Importance of developing migration-aware healthcare systems; people do not migrate to access healthcare; border areas are exceptional