Migrants Minorities Health

Vol. 1 examines how much is known about migrant and ethnic minority health and where the barriers to scientific progress lie. Vol. 2 is concerned with the changes that are needed to improve the matching of health services to the needs of these groups.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

International migration, particularly to Europe, has increased in the last few decades, making research on aspects of this phenomenon, including numbers, challenges, and successes, particularly vital. This Special Issue highlights this necessary and relevant area of research. It presents 37 articles including studies on diverse topics relating to the health of refugees and migrants. Most articles (28) present studies focusing on European host countries. The focus on Europe is justified if we take into consideration the increased number of refugees and migrants who have come to Europe in recent years. However, there are also articles which present studies from countries in other continents. The topics discussed in the Issue include healthcare utilization, infectious diseases, mother and child health, mental health, and chronic diseases. Finding from the included articles indicate that further development of guidelines and policies at both local and international levels is needed. Priorities must be set by encouraging and funding in-depth research that aims to evaluate the impact of existing policies and interventions. Such research will help us formulate recommendations for the development of strategies and approaches that improve and strengthen the integration of migrants and refugees into the host countries.

Vol. 1 examines how much is known about migrant and ethnic minority health and where the barriers to scientific progress lie. Vol. 2 is concerned with the changes that are needed to improve the matching of health services to the needs of these groups.

Integrating newcomers and minorities into the social fabric of receiving countries has become one of the crucial challenges of contemporary Western societies. This volume seeks to understand patterns of changing institutional practices and public policies where the challenges of including cultural diversity into the social fabric are most pronounced: namely the health care system. In recent years, pro-migrant organizations and anti-racist activists have repeatedly voiced and politicized demands to improve migrants' access to the health-care system giving rise to a lively debate about migrants' access to health-care and responsiveness of institutions to their needs. In a nutshell the book achieves the following: - Provides a conceptual framework to link patterns of political advocacy/mobilization and processes of migrants' socio-political inclusion - Integrates the (multi-disciplinary) literature on political mobilization and accommodating cultural diversity in an innovative fashion - Presents a comparative study on accommodating diversity in the health care system from a comparative transatlantic perspective - Generates insight into best practices in the health care system that will be of interest to scholars as well as practitioners in the field. The analysis of health care provision offers an opportunity to test new public policy strategies and the policy consequences of the now widespread aspiration to include citizens more fully in designing and implementing them.

Social changes in European societies place migration and cultural diversity on the European political agenda. The European initiative Migrant Friendly Hospitals (MFH) aims to identify, develop and evaluate models of effective interventions. It has the following objectives: To strengthen the role of hospitals in promoting the health of migrants and ethnic minorities in the European Union and to improve hospital services for these groups. This report reviews models of effective intervention in the medical literature and provides the background information needed to enable partner hospitals taking part in the MFH initiative to select and implement suitable interventions. The interventions reviewed in this study are grouped in four areas: Communication, Responsiveness Empowerment of migrant and minority patients and communities. Monitoring of the health of migrants and minorities and the health care they receive. [Ed.]

International migration, particularly to Europe, has increased in the last few decades, making research on aspects of this phenomenon, including numbers, challenges, and successes, particularly vital. This Special Issue highlights this necessary and relevant area of research. It presents 37 articles including studies on diverse topics relating to the health of refugees and migrants. Most articles (28) present studies focusing on European host countries. The focus on Europe is justified if we take into consideration the increased number of refugees and migrants who have come to Europe in recent years. However, there are also articles which present studies from countries in other continents. The topics discussed in the Issue include healthcare utilization, infectious diseases, mother and child health, mental health, and chronic diseases. Finding from the included articles indicate that further development of guidelines and policies at both local and international levels is needed. Priorities must be set by encouraging and funding in-depth research that aims to evaluate the impact of existing policies and interventions. Such research will help us formulate recommendations for the development of strategies and approaches that improve and strengthen the integration of migrants and refugees into the host countries.