This salient volume surveys the state of access to primary care and preventive health services by migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers across Europe. Experts in public health and allied fields identify obstacles to healthcare interventions for migrants, including costs, legal status, health-related behaviors and beliefs, and cultural and language barriers. The book includes the latest data concerning access to specific preventive services (e.g., vaccinations, colorectal screenings), specific issues of women and sexual minorities, and the potential for health promotion in prevention. Best practices for improving access are outlined as a basis for public health and policy directives toward reducing health disparities between migrant and native populations. Among the topics covered:

• Access to medical examination for prevention among migrants
• Access and barriers to infant vaccinations, female cancer screening and colorectal screening among migrant populations
• Provision and policy gap between the primary and preventive care required by and the care provided to LGBTQ+ migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
• Health related lifestyles and intermediate health conditions of migrants.
• Quality of primary healthcare and preventive health services provided to migrants
• Adaptations of primary health care for migrants

• Access to primary health care and policies on migration and health at a time of economic crisis

  Dedicated to bridging research and policy gaps in this vital area, Primary Care Access and Preventive Health Services of Migrants is intended for an international audience of academics, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in public health and related disciplines.

  Autorentext
  Aldo Rosano, PhD, is senior researcher at National Institute of Health (ISS) in Rome, Italy.

  Inhalt
  

  1. Foreword
  
  
  2. Rights to primary care access and health prevention of non-nationals and migrants in the European Union Countries (Nadia Mignolli, Alessandra Fasano, Roberta Pace)
  
  Abstract: This chapter aims at illustrating how the different National Health Systems in the European Union (EU) countries meet the needs of both non-nationals and migrants in terms of laws regulating primary care and health prevention access. For this purpose, a comparative study is carried out using different sources of quality and quantitative information. Multidimensional and exploratory data analysis techniques are applied in order to produce clusters and to represent the different patterns of EU countries, visualising them also on detailed maps.
  
  3. Access and barriers to childhood immunization among migrant populations (Pierluigi Lopalco)
  
  Abstract: Childhood immunization is one of the most effective prevention services in public health. In high-resource countries, childhood immunization services are well established and high immunization coverage is warranted in the general population. Average vaccination coverage for childhood vaccines like diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) are close to 95% in Europe and North America. Some problems still exist in many European countries to reach high vaccination coverage against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), thus jeopardizing the measles and rubella elimination goal. In particular, sub-optimal vaccination coverage levels have been reported in disadvantaged groups like newly arrived migrants and travelling communities. Language barriers, lack of documents, are poor education are reported among the causes of missed opportunities for vaccination. This chapter reviews the situation of vaccination coverage levels among newly arrived and stable migrants in developed countries and will discuss the main determinants for access and barriers to vaccination services in this population.
  
  4. Access to medical examination for primary prevention among migrants (Alessio Petrelli, Anteo Di Napoli, Alessandra Rossi)
  
  Abstract: Use of healthcare services can differ among migrants and natives, especially in preventive care, also because of different health status perception. In this context, it is relevant to monitor access to health care, because resource limitation due to financial crisis introduced in public health policies medical copay fees and the reduction of essential medical services. We aimed to evaluate access to medical examination in the absence of disorders or symptoms by migrants, taking into account cultural and religious background, socioeconomic status, length of stay in the destination country, difficulties in learning the new language, and gender.
  
  5. Avoidable hospitalization among migrants and ethnic minorities in western countries (Laura Cacciani, Nera Agabiti, Teresa Dalla Zuanna, Cristina Canova)
  
  Abstract: Avoidable hospitalization (AH) relates to conditions for which hospital admission could be prevented by interventions in primary care. Such conditions, called Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSCs), have been used as a marker of accessibility and primary care effectiveness. A lack of high-quality primary and preventive care can, in fact, result in an increased AH. There is evidence of differentials on the use of healthcare services between migrants and ethnic minorities in western countries and the autochthonous populations, which may, in turn, generate differentials in the health status. The aim of this chapter is to address the issue of primary health care and preventive health services access of migrants and ethnic minorities in western countries, using hospitalization for ACSCs as an indicator. We perform a review of the existing international scientific literature that describes AH among migrants and ethnic minorities and compares the findings with those among non-migrant populations or the main ethnic groups. The quality of the selected papers as well as the AH definition considered are taken into account, and the specific context of hosting countries are considered and discussed. We will also analyse and discuss available secondary data on AH.
  
  6. Female migrants' attitudes and access to cervical and breast cancer screening in Europe (Sandra Buttigieg)
  
  Abstract: Despite the fact that breast...