Labor migrants in St Petersburg: disease awareness, behavioral risks and counseling by health professionals in building up prevention against TB, HIV and associated infections

Autor: Tuula Vasankari, Boris Sergeyev, Igor Kazanets, Natalya Isaeva, Arvid Nyberg, Mikko Vauhkonnen, Irina L. Zhuravleva, L.D. Ivanova
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Public Health. 23:213-221
ISSN: 1613-2238
2198-1833
DOI: 10.1007/s10389-015-0669-4
Popis: The existing studies of disease awareness among labor migrants often do not extend to tuberculosis and hepatitis, as there is limited research on factors promoting contacts with medical professionals who can serve as important sources of disease prevention information. When designing health interventions, planners need to take these factors into account, especially given that the proportion of migrant population can impact on general health situation in certain areas. Survey among labor migrants in St Petersburg (n = 150) was administered by a team of Russian and Finnish researchers. It included assessments of migrants’ awareness of HIV, hepatitis, TB and STIs; risk behavior, access to medical counseling and ranking of various sources as suppliers of health information. The results revealed considerable gender gap, with women being better informed about transmission routes and prevention methods against communicable diseases. The gap extends to information sources, yet both genders refer to medical professionals as an important source of health information. Women are also more likely to contact medical offices; availability of health insurance has limited impact in this respect. Given their role as suppliers of health information, medical professionals should be encouraged to share advice with migrants. The respective shift in funding priorities to support medical professionals is advisable. Furthermore, official policies to promote voluntary health insurance, while being a positive initiative, have limited value in terms of prevention of communicable diseases as availability of insurance does not promote contacts between migrants and medical professionals.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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