HARMONY: Integrated psychosocial wellbeing support to improve access to family planning among migrant women in Thailand

Migrant women in Thailand, particularly from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, face a complex web of intersecting vulnerabilities that hinder their access to quality, rights-based family planning services. Despite national commitments to universal health coverage and the introduction of migrant-inclusive policies, these women often remain excluded from care due to legal, linguistic, geographic and psychosocial barriers. Psychosocial distress — manifesting as stress, anxiety and depression — further reduces women’s motivation and capacity to seek contraceptive services. Structural discrimination, misinformation and the absence of culturally appropriate counseling compound these challenges, perpetuating health inequities.

This project responds to a clear health service gap by designing an integrated, evidence-based psychosocial wellbeing model tailored to the realities of migrant women’s lives. It will co-develop and evaluate a culturally adapted psychosocial wellbeing intervention model to enhance family planning access among migrant women in Thailand. The study will assess the intervention’s effectiveness, acceptability and scalability in migrant-friendly health facilities.

Expected outcomes include improved psychosocial wellbeing, increased uptake of family planning services and strengthened capacity of health-care providers to deliver gender-sensitive, integrated care. Key outputs will include a validated intervention model, training tools for providers, policy briefs and evidence to support integration of psychosocial support into Thailand’s sexual and reproductive health and rights strategies.