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Purpose: Immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees living in Europe face a number of challenges in accessing or using health information and healthcare services available in their host countries. To resolve these issues and deliver the necessary services, providers must take a comprehensive approach to better understand the types of health information and healthcare services that these individuals need, seek and use. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop that comprehensive approach. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed publications was performed, with 3.013 articles collected from various databases. A total of 57 qualifying papers on studies conducted in Europe were included in the review after applying the predefined inclusion and exclusion requirements, screening processes and eliminating duplicates. The information seeking and communication model (ISCM) was used in the analysis. Findings: The findings revealed that while many health information and healthcare services are accessible in Europe for immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, many of these individuals are unaware of their existence or how to access them. While our findings do not specify what health-related information these groups need, use or seek, they do suggest the importance and value of providing mental health, sexual health and HIV, as well as pregnancy and childbirth information and services. Furthermore, according to our results, health information services should be fact-based, easy to understand and raise awareness about healthcare structure and services available in Europe for this vulnerable population. Practical implications: This study has a range of practical implications, including (1) highlighting the need for mental health and behavioural health services and (2) stressing the value of addressing cultural context and religious values while investigating (health) information seeking of people with foreign background. Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to systematically review and examine the behaviour of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in relation to health information and healthcare services in the European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Health monitoring of the migrant population in most European countries shows that migrants have a lower standard of health conditions than the resident population. One of the problems is that the interaction between migrants and general practitioners (GPs) is not optimal. Most of the migrants are not able to fully understand the GP's advice or instructions. GPs report that they are not adequately supported by health institutions, and they are asking for new solutions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic review to find existing international approaches to improve the interaction between GPs and their migrant patients. Design/methodology/approach: The literature search identified 2,387 articles, 36 of which met the full inclusion criteria. In total, 12 of the included studies referenced approaches for improving GPs' communication skills. Seven articles described solutions for a better understanding of cultural differences, and six articles listed approaches to health education for GPs. One article highlighted how health information can improve the interaction between GPs and migrants, and four articles detailed new technologies that could improve and enhance quality of care. The last six articles included good practice strategies described by GPs. Findings: This paper provides an overview of international approaches from the viewpoint of GPs. It concludes that there is no single instrument or method that works in all situations. There are, however, a wide range of approaches available that could lead to substantial improvements in the quality of care for the migrant population. Research limitations/implications: Different health systems in the reviewed countries and changing roles of GPs must be taken into consideration when making statements about successful approaches. Migrants have different backgrounds and cannot all be categorized as one and the same group of patients. Another limitation of the review concerns the evidence level of the articles included, since most of the studies do not reach high level of evidence. In addition, there is a need to analyze aspects of the relationship between GPs and the migrant population that have been neglected up to now, such as financial issues, patients' expectations, or lack of trust. Originality/value: This paper provides an overview of international approaches from the viewpoint of GPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The management literature concludes that there is an increasing need for skilled migrants in Europe. A fresh comparative OECD study highlights Norway as one of the successful countries in terms of attracting highly qualified migrants. Regardless of this picture, many skilled migrants do not get their education recognised and face great challenges in their career development. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this under-researched field in management studies by focusing on skilled migrants' careers development as a question of human capital and negotiations at a relational level. Design/methodology/approach – This study draws on interviews with recruitment agencies and life-story interviews with high-skilled immigrants, attending the programme "Global future – mobilisation of talented immigrants with higher education", initiated by the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Enterprise (NHO) in Norway. Findings – Recruitment is a multi-layered and relational process, involving different negotiators, negotiations and inequality regimes. Language skills, gendered expectations, networks, local knowledge and the attitude of employers play an important role in skilled migrants' careers development and labour market participation. Originality/value – This paper presents recent literature on highly skilled migration in Norway. By focusing on participants in a new type of recruitment programme for highly skilled migrants in Norway, the findings can give input to both employers and policy makers regarding the nature of integrating highly skilled migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – In this paper, the authors aim to assess whether immigrants are more likely to receive welfare payments relative to natives across a range of European countries. They also seek to examine relative rates of poverty across immigrants and natives. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for 2007. They present descriptive statistics and results from probit regressions. Findings – The authors find very little evidence that immigrants are more likely to receive welfare payments when all payments are considered together. This is true whether they use descriptive analysis or regression analysis in which they control for relevant characteristics such as age, gender and education. They do find evidence of higher rates of poverty among immigrants. Research limitations/implications – As the data used do not give an indication of the length of time an immigrant has been in a destination country, the authors are unable to assess whether their observed patterns change with length of stay. Social implications – The results run counter to what seems to be a popular perception, namely, that immigrants are intensive users of welfare. Hence, attitudes may be altered. Originality/value – While other papers may have considered this issue, to the authors' knowledge, none have linked the poverty and welfare analyses. The findings raise the possibility that welfare systems are failing to keep immigrants out of poverty and this is important in the context of the inclusion agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to challenge the idea of the immobile immigrant worker, trapped in the bottom segments of the labour market, by exploring how immigrants and their descendants (sometimes designated second generation immigrants) develop re-emigration strategies in their first country of settlement in Europe when faced with structural or conjunctural barriers to the advancement of their socio-economic situation. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence was collected through structured interviews aimed at capturing labour market and residential trajectories of workers of African origin and their descendants in Portugal, with a particular emphasis on the period between 1998 and 2006. Findings – Findings suggest that in some cases, immigrants draw on social networks available to them to engage in processes of continued intra-European mobility. International re-emigration emerges as a work-space mobility strategy for migrant workers and their descendants when there was no significant social mobility in the first destination. Similarly, international geographical mobility may constitute a self-perpetuating strategy across generations to escape structural immobility faced by certain immigrant groups in destination contexts. Research limitations/implications – Experiences reported are situated, so cannot be taken to represent those of all workers of African origin in Portugal. Social implications – Findings presented in the paper highlight potential consequences of perpetuating geographical mobility throughout time, namely in terms of labour market conditions and family dynamics. They also highlight the need to look at socio-economic mobility trajectories within Europe as integrated space and not just within national borders. Originality/value – The paper proposes an encompassing view of migrants' (im)mobilities over time, to include the conditions of their labour market incorporation and its links to further spatial, international, mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to study the determinants of naturalization of non-EU immigrant household heads with a fresh look at the role of integration and ethnicity. Design/methodology/approach -- Employing data on immigrant household heads from the German Socioeconomic Panel differentiation is made among those who already have been naturalized, those who plan to take citizenship, and those who do not have citizenship and do not want it, using multinomial probit models. The subject scope includes literature on naturalization, ethnicity, and integration. Findings -- A robust finding is that German citizenship is very valuable to female immigrant household heads and the generally better educated, but not to those educated in Germany. The degree of integration into German society has a differential effect on citizenship acquisition. While a longer residence in Germany has a negative influence on actual or future naturalization, arriving at a younger age and having close German friends are strong indicators of a positive proclivity to citizenship acquisition. Likewise, ethnic origins and religion also influence these decisions. Muslim immigrants in Germany are more willing to become German citizens than non-Muslim immigrants, but there are also fewer German citizens among Muslims than among non-Muslims. Research limitations/implications -- Future research should also investigate the second-generation naturalization proclivities and those of illegals. Practical implications -- Allowing for dual citizenship helps generate more naturalizations among Muslims. Originality/value -- The paper provides a test of the relative importance of the integration approach in comparison with the ethnicity model; demonstrating that integration in German society has a stronger effect on naturalization than ethnic origin and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the role of cognitive skills and extent of skill use at work in explaining the immigrant–native wage gap in Europe. The study targets immigrant–native disparities in literacy and numeracy cognitive skills, as important, yet not exhaustive factor behind immigrants' wage penalty.Design/methodology/approach The research relies on the Program of International Assessment of Adult Competencies data for 15 European countries. The empirical analysis employs multivariate regression analysis and incorporates the full set of plausible values for each skill domain, to correctly measure cognitive skills. To estimate standard errors, the authors employ Jackknife replication methodology with 80 replication weights and final population weight.Findings The authors document that, on average, immigrants achieve substantially worse scores in literacy and numeracy test domains. Only highly educated immigrants tend to improve their skills over time in host countries. The results of wage gap analysis indicate that having cognitive skills, demographic profile and occupation category comparable to natives does not yield comparable wage rate. The remaining wage gap results from the systematic differences in skills application at work, as immigrants use their skills to lower extent, relative to natives.Originality/value The research employs a novel measure of productive human capital, which accounts for cognitive skills in literacy and numeracy domains, and frequencies of skill use at work. It allows to more precisely evaluate the immigrant–native disparity in human capital application and its reflection on the wage rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Economic theory predicts that unemployment benefits may increase expected income and reduce its volatility, thereby attracting immigrants to countries which implement such programs. This article aims to explore whether and how changes in countries' unemployment benefit spending (UBS) affect immigration. Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected for 19 European countries over the period 1993-2008. The relationship between immigration flows and UBS is first tested using the OLS technique. Instrumental variable (IV) and generalised method of moments (GMM) are then used to address reverse causality. Findings – While the OLS estimates suggest the existence of a moderate within-country welfare magnet effect for the inflows of non-EU immigrants, the IV approach reveals that the impact is substantially smaller and statistically insignificant when GMM techniques are implemented. Research limitations/implications – Since information on the immigrants' country of origin is not available, it is not possible to exclude that for immigrants coming from certain areas, unemployment benefits constitute a strong incentive to immigrate. This hypothesis awaits further research, once detailed data is available. Originality/value – This paper complements previous literature on immigration and welfare by exploring the endogenous nature of welfare spending. The empirical results provide insights into the interaction between immigration and welfare policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper's main purpose is to evaluate immigrants' demand for social assistance and services and identify the key barriers to social and labor market inclusion of immigrants in the European Union. Design/methodology/approach – An online primary survey of experts from NGOs and public organizations working on immigrant integration in the member states of the European Union was carried out. The data is analyzed using simple comparative statistical methods; the robustness of the results is tested by means of logit and ordered logit statistical models. Findings – The authors find that the general public in Europe has rather negative attitudes towards immigrants. Although the business community views immigrants somewhat less negatively, barriers to immigrant labor market inclusion identified include language and human capital gaps, a lack of recognition of foreign qualifications, discrimination, non-transparent labor markets and institutional barriers such as legal restrictions for foreign citizens. Exclusion from higher education, housing and the services of the financial sector aggravate these barriers. Changes in the areas of salaried employment, education, social insurance, mobility and attitudes are seen as desired by members of ethnic minorities. The current economic downturn is believed to have increased the importance of active inclusion policies, especially in the areas of employment and education. These results appear to be robust with respect to a number of characteristics of respondents and their organizations. Research limitations/implications – The authors' findings are not limited to the sample studied, which is supported by their robustness analysis. However an extended opinion survey of the ethnic minority population is required to more accurately examine the problems faced by diverse groups of immigrants across EU member states. Practical implications – The findings of the study call for more effective diversity management and integration strategies to ensure non-discrimination and better integration of ethnic minorities into the labor markets of member states. Originality/value – There are few studies using primary survey data that have identified a wide range of barriers and challenges to economic integration faced by ethnic minorities in an enlarged European Union. The cross-national opinion survey uniquely reflects views and suggestions of practitioners and immigrant minorities themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to study opinions and attitudes towards immigrants and minorities and their interactions with other barriers to minorities' economic integration. Specifically, the minority experts' own perceptions about these issues, the veracities and repercussions of unfavorable attitudes of natives are to be considered. Design/methodology/approach -- Employing newly available data from the IZA Expert Opinion Survey 2007 main trends in the integration situation of ethnic minorities in Europe are depicted in a comparative manner. Findings -- Robust findings show that: ethnic minorities face integration problems; natives' general negative attitudes are a key factor of their challenging situation; discrimination is acknowledged as the single most important integration barrier; low education and self-confidence as well as cultural differences also hinder integration; minorities want change and that it comes about by policies based on the principle of equal treatment. Research limitations/implications -- Future research should not only investigate how negative attitudes are formed but also study their dynamics with respect to integration policies. Practical implications -- Well-designed integration policies, that take the specific situation of the respective ethnic minority into account, are persistent and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws is desirable. Originality/value -- Using a unique dataset, the innovative study is the first to gauge the perspectives of expert stakeholders and ethnic minorities on their integration situation and the main barriers that hinder it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the diverse needs of migrants in Europe. He defines migrants as a highly diverse group which ranges from the subjects of forced migration to the huge number of labor migrants in Central and Eastern Europe. He explains the five tendencies that characterize migration in the early 21st century, such as the globalization of migration. He cites that the encouragement of migration is driven by demographic changes in Western Europe.

Purpose – The increased number of Eastern European immigrants provides many opportunities to work with these immigrants and issues related to immigration. The purpose of this article is to examine Eastern European immigrants' adaptation patterns and provide recommendations for family therapy working with the group. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 120 Eastern European immigrants. Data analysis was conducted using constant comparisons. Findings – Common immigration experiences illustrating the need for services have been identified, along with barriers that might prevent the use of social services. The results indicate similarities and differences among the different groups regarding their immigration experience and adaptation to the host society. Originality/value – Recommendations for overcoming the service-use barriers and conducting family therapy with these immigrants are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various articles published within the issue, such as one by Dona on the inter-relationships between the existential position of asylum seekers and refugees and concepts of well-being, one by Prytherch and Wyss on the different aspects of knowledge in relating to migrant communities in Switzerland and one by Huy and colleagues on the mobility of migrant men in Vietnam and their vulnerability to health problems.