Migration

Inégalités en santé et minorités ethniques

Autour du monde, l’état de santé des personnes issues de minorités ethniques est moins bon comparé au reste de la population. Les soins de santé accessibles à ces populations sont de moins bonne qualité.

A travers son  rapport 2013, le Minority Rights Group International décrit  les facteurs contribuant aux inégalités en santé et propose des pistes d’intervention afin que les pays puissent mieux répondre aux besoins de l’ensemble de leur population.

compétences transculturelles parmi les soignants: nous pouvons faire mieux!

Dans le cadre du programme national “Migrant Friendly Hospitals” voici les résultats d’une étude faite auprès des soignants (médecins et infirmiers/ères) du CHUV concernant leurs compétences à soigner des patients de cultures différentes (compétences transculturelles). Sur la base de questionnaires auto-administrés, 244 infirmières et 124 médecins ont auto-évalué leur savoir-faire lorsqu’il s’agit de soigner un patient migrant. Les questions étaient basées sur le “Cross-Cultural Care Survey”, un outil déjà validé.

Great inequity in health workers distribution around the world

Health workforce shortage is becoming  an urgent problem in high income countries ( including Switzerland). In order to respond to an increasing need,  health workers have been drained from other countries ( including from developing countries).

But when looking at the availability of health workers around the world related to the population needs, there is a great inequity in the distribution of nurses and doctors among countries, which should encourage a more fair distribution of resources and a greater effort in education of health workers across the globe.

Access to healthcare for migrants: a methasynthesis

Access to quality health care for all is a universal goal for health.

The way migrant people access quality healthcare services is yet poor.

This metasynthesis pulled together results about barriers in access to health care  that were described in quality studies retrieved in the international literature.

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Compétences transculturelles et prévention

En faisant des recherches autour des compétences transculturelles je suis tombée sur un site intéressant, dédié à la transculturalité dans les  domaines de la promotion de la santé et de la prévention.

www.prevtrans.ch

Les résultats du projet « Prévention et promotion de la santé transculturelles » sont publiés sur le site ainsi que plusieurs documents, y compris les recommandations en vue du développement de programmes et actions de promotion de la santé et prévention adaptées à une population diverse.

Migrant health and national strategy in Switzerland

A good summary of the situation in Switzerland

Spang T. and Zuppinger B., Switzerland: immigrants facing poverty and social exclusion – the Migration and Public Health Strategy, i n: Poverty and social exclusion in the WHO European Region: health systems respond. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010, pp.196-204

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Summary, p.196

Foreigners comprise about a fifth Switzerland’s population, and immigrants comprise about a third. Overall, there are inequalities in health status between immigrants and Swiss nationals. The immigrant population faces difficult socioeconomic and working conditions, uncertainties about residence status and greater exposure to risks to health, including unhealthy behavior. It also faces a lack of information, lower participation in sickness-prevention activities and various deficiencies in Switzerland’s health care system, such as lack of interpreting services and underdeveloped transcultural skills. Switzerland has recently increased its efforts to integrate foreigners and is elaborating appropriate cross-sectoral policies. The programme described in this case study is the Federal Offi ce of Public Health’s Migration and Public Health Strategy, which was implemented between 2002 and 2007 and has recently been refi ned and extended until 2013. The programme comprises activities and projects in fi ve areas: (1) education; (2) public information, prevention and health promotion; (3) health care provision; (4) therapy for traumatized asylum seekers; and (5) research. The case study describes the programme, providing information about its implementation, its effects and the lessons learned. The Migration and Public Health Strategy addresses health determinants, including access to the health system, discrimination and cultural attitudes. It also addresses health literacy, substance abuse, smoking, unsafe sex, eating habits and physical activity. To various degrees, it aims to ensure accessibility, acceptability and quality of health services. The programme’s main achievements were to put immigrant health on the health system agenda and to raise the visibility of problems and needs in this area. Various projects also contributed to direct improvements for the target group, the immigrant population. The greatest challenge was to increase awareness of the issue among the diverse actors and stakeholders of the Swiss health system and within the Federal Administration. Various educational activities have helped to build specific human resource capacities (such as interpreters and nursing staff). Possible improvements have been identified at the strategic and institutional level (such as agenda setting, mainstreaming the health of migrants as an issue to be addressed in policies and programmes, and the creation of cross-sectoral networks), for greater involvement of key integration-policy actors and further promotion of so-called cultural change in the health system.