Migration, Public Health, and Low-Threshold Health Services in Italy: A Culturally-Oriented Approach for Roma Communities

Public health authorities and healthcare providers are often unable to overcome their rigid bureaucratic limits and offer low-threshold health services to vulnerable ethnic minorities, such as the Roma communities. Roma people frequently face institutional, juridical, social, economic, and cultural...

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Main Author: Pietro Vulpiani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Turkish Foundation of Family Medicine 2019-08-01
Series:Anatolian Journal of Family Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.journalagent.com/z4/download_fulltext.asp?pdir=anatoljfm&un=ANATOLJFM-36844
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author Pietro Vulpiani
author_facet Pietro Vulpiani
author_sort Pietro Vulpiani
collection DOAJ
description Public health authorities and healthcare providers are often unable to overcome their rigid bureaucratic limits and offer low-threshold health services to vulnerable ethnic minorities, such as the Roma communities. Roma people frequently face institutional, juridical, social, economic, and cultural obstacles in the course of their access to appropriate, effective, and high-quality healthcare. In Italy, Roma people experience difficulties such as cultural constraints and discrimination while accessing health services. For this reason, in recent years, public healthcare institutions have been experimenting with innovative approaches aimed at overcoming inequalities and discriminations associated with the access to health care through cooperation between private and public health and the active involvement of the Roma communities. The implementation of low-threshold services have specific requirements such as; a strong commitment toward public health at the national, regional, and local levels; joint local networks of well-trained healthcare professionals, non-medical personnel, and civil society organizations; tailor-made projects addressing Roma with respect to the public health facilities; monitoring the access to the healthcare facilities of Roma; promoting direct interaction between healthcare providers and Roma; cultural mediation; actively involving Roma communities in overcoming the mistrust of and prejudice toward healthcare providers and medical facilities; promoting a healthy lifestyle in Roma households by fostering routine screenings, immunization, and medical appointments and respecting medical pharmacological therapies. To improve the Roma communities' health in Italy, we have proposed a culturally-oriented model that offers a methodological approach beyond prejudice to improve access to healthcare.
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spelling doaj.art-cf012dc0b9ca46b2973fae757153ba042023-02-15T16:11:19ZengTurkish Foundation of Family MedicineAnatolian Journal of Family Medicine2651-34552019-08-0122455210.5505/anatoljfm.2019.36844ANATOLJFM-36844Migration, Public Health, and Low-Threshold Health Services in Italy: A Culturally-Oriented Approach for Roma CommunitiesPietro Vulpiani0Senior Adviser on Migration - Public Administration, ItalyPublic health authorities and healthcare providers are often unable to overcome their rigid bureaucratic limits and offer low-threshold health services to vulnerable ethnic minorities, such as the Roma communities. Roma people frequently face institutional, juridical, social, economic, and cultural obstacles in the course of their access to appropriate, effective, and high-quality healthcare. In Italy, Roma people experience difficulties such as cultural constraints and discrimination while accessing health services. For this reason, in recent years, public healthcare institutions have been experimenting with innovative approaches aimed at overcoming inequalities and discriminations associated with the access to health care through cooperation between private and public health and the active involvement of the Roma communities. The implementation of low-threshold services have specific requirements such as; a strong commitment toward public health at the national, regional, and local levels; joint local networks of well-trained healthcare professionals, non-medical personnel, and civil society organizations; tailor-made projects addressing Roma with respect to the public health facilities; monitoring the access to the healthcare facilities of Roma; promoting direct interaction between healthcare providers and Roma; cultural mediation; actively involving Roma communities in overcoming the mistrust of and prejudice toward healthcare providers and medical facilities; promoting a healthy lifestyle in Roma households by fostering routine screenings, immunization, and medical appointments and respecting medical pharmacological therapies. To improve the Roma communities' health in Italy, we have proposed a culturally-oriented model that offers a methodological approach beyond prejudice to improve access to healthcare.https://www.journalagent.com/z4/download_fulltext.asp?pdir=anatoljfm&un=ANATOLJFM-36844emigrants and immigrantshealth servicesromasocial problems
spellingShingle Pietro Vulpiani
Migration, Public Health, and Low-Threshold Health Services in Italy: A Culturally-Oriented Approach for Roma Communities
Anatolian Journal of Family Medicine
emigrants and immigrants
health services
roma
social problems
title Migration, Public Health, and Low-Threshold Health Services in Italy: A Culturally-Oriented Approach for Roma Communities
title_full Migration, Public Health, and Low-Threshold Health Services in Italy: A Culturally-Oriented Approach for Roma Communities
title_fullStr Migration, Public Health, and Low-Threshold Health Services in Italy: A Culturally-Oriented Approach for Roma Communities
title_full_unstemmed Migration, Public Health, and Low-Threshold Health Services in Italy: A Culturally-Oriented Approach for Roma Communities
title_short Migration, Public Health, and Low-Threshold Health Services in Italy: A Culturally-Oriented Approach for Roma Communities
title_sort migration public health and low threshold health services in italy a culturally oriented approach for roma communities
topic emigrants and immigrants
health services
roma
social problems
url https://www.journalagent.com/z4/download_fulltext.asp?pdir=anatoljfm&un=ANATOLJFM-36844
work_keys_str_mv AT pietrovulpiani migrationpublichealthandlowthresholdhealthservicesinitalyaculturallyorientedapproachforromacommunities