The financial constraints of living with terminal illness while on a UK visa: reflections from professionals

Whereas the impact of terminal illness on financial stability is well known, this is not the case for visa-holding migrants to the UK. In this paper, we aim to investigate the financial stability of individuals and families at the intersections of terminal illness and migration, through the lens of the professionals supporting them.

Results indicate that that having a terminal illness while a migrant, accompanies a greater degree of financial and material challenge as well as a specific array of stressors. There are also numerous roadblocks and hurdles that impede on the basic necessities needed at end of life.

Dr Laurence Lessard-Phillips is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology at the University of Birmingham, linked to the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity (IRIS). A large share of her research interests is linked to migration-based inequalities in many areas, including education, employment, and health. She has led and participated in funded research projects on these topics, including the project that this presentation is based on.