In combination with gender and culture, the authors argue that the migratory experience must be considered as a determinant of the health of immigrant women in its own right. Gender and other symbolic institutions are seen as intertwined in an ecological model of health. Bronfenbrenner's (1986 Bronfenbrenner, U. 1986. Ecology of the family as a context for human development: research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22(6): 723–742. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) systems theory and a combination of theories of social cognition, social exchange and symbolic interaction articulated by Howard and Hollander (1997 Howard, JA and Hollander, J. 1997. Gendered Situations, Gendered Selves, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.  [Google Scholar]) expand the ecological model. Cognitive schemas of gender and culture help explain the process of integration in a new locality over time. Success in addressing the health of immigrant women will be limited if the impact of migration and at the meso- and macro-levels is ignored in favour of a focus on the individual.