Migrant Health

In this time of large-scale global migration at levels unrivalled since World War II, primary care practitioners are providing the first line of care to economic migrants and refugees. In doing so, they face daily the considerable challenges that this heterogenic group brings in terms of communication, culture, and legal status as well as physical and mental health.

This accessible book has been carefully crafted to enable primary health care professionals to develop the skills and competencies required to deliver appropriate services to this diverse group of patients and, in turn, to ensure equity in health care for all.

The book satisfies the urgent need for a hands-on guide to support and help general practitioners and other members of the primary health care team improve their provision of care not only to immigrants, but to other vulnerable groups and the whole society.

Table of Contents

Preface

Foreword

Background information – Kumar and Diaz

Part 1: Overarching Themes

        Migration and immigrants – BN Kumar & E Diaz

        Migration health theories: healthy migrant effect and allostatic load. Can both be true? – BN Kumar & E Diaz

        Culture, language and the clinic - three stories, two keys- I Heath & E Schei

        The Ethics of Migrant Health: Power and Privilege versus Rights and Entitlements. G Oms, R Hammonds & I Keygnaert

        Discrimination and health – J H Magnus

        Immigrants’ use of primary health care services: overuse, underuse or both? – E Diaz & BN Kumar

        Part 2: A life course perspective on migrant health- Y ben Shlomo, L Mamluk & S Redwood

        Promoting the Health of Migrant Children and Children of Immigrants –K M Perreira & L T Fadnes

        Adolescent migrant health –M Catallozzi, C A Kolff, R Fowler & T McGovern

        Health care for older and elderly immigrants – C O’Donnell

        Family and group as a unit of care - B Kiely &B Viken,

        Part 3: Health challenges at the clinic- M van den Muijsenbergh

        Gynaecology and obstetrics– B Austveg, K A Møen

        Chronic disease prevention and management: an understated priority N Nitti

        Understanding unexplained and complex symptoms and diseases - M Sodemann

        Cancer among immigrant patients- K Albrecht & S De Maesschalck

        Immigration and Mental health - R Farrington

        Multimorbidity- the complexity - A Calderón & L Gimeno

        Part 4: Opportunities and tools when meeting immigrant patients- C Phillips & J Benson

        Bridging Cultural and Language Discordance – E Diaz & BN Kumar

        Evidence Based Guidelines and Advocacy– K Pottie

        Diversity sensitive versus adapted services for immigrants: the example of dementia care in Germany - O Razum & H Tezcan-Guentekin

        Assessments tools for dementia an depression in older immigrants – T R Nielsen & M Nørredam

        Community participation in primary healthcare: meaningful involvement of immigrants- A MacFarlane & C Lionis

This is an outstanding monograph on the medical and psychological considerations clinicians must keep in mind when caring for a person who has immigrated to a land with different customs and lifestyles. The book offers insights that
clinicians usually are not exposed to in their training programs. The book also is a tremendous asset for clinicians who participate in medical missions to developing areas, sensitizing them to the cultures they may not have experience
with.
Vincent F Carr, DO, MSA, FACC, FACP(Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences)

Bernadette N. Kumar leads the Migration Health work package of the EU Joint Action on Health Inequalities and is the current President of the EUPHA section of Migration and Ethnic Minority Health. She was appointed Director of NAKMI (Norwegian Center for Migration and Minority Health, now part of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health) in 2010 and Associate Professor, Global Health at the Institute for Health and Society, University of Oslo in 2013. She has also been a commissioner of the Lancet Commission on Migration and Health.

Esperanza Diaz is a Specialist in Primary Care. She works as Associate Professor in the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, and is a Senior Researcher at the Unit for Migration and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway.