Scholarly record

SELECTED SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH OF IMMIGRANTS 50+ LIVING IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

L. Motlova, J. Vackova, O. Dvorackova

Abstract

Background: The number of foreigners living in the Czech Republic amounts to about 4-5% of the population (i.e. 493 000 persons by 31. 12. 2016, Czech Statistical Office, 2018). The largest numbers consist of persons from Poland, Ukraine, Vietnam, Slovakia, Germany and Russia. The generation of immigrants above 50 years of age is an interesting and diverse group of persons who are often perceived as seniors and face ageism in different areas of life. The generation of foreigners of that age constitutes a group of persons not mapped yet, who may have specific social characteristics of health - with regard to the duration of their stay, gender and selected integration aspects. In 2015, the project concerning the health and social situation of immigrants living in the Czech Republic was concluded. Aim: The main project goal consisted in finding connections among selected characteristics of social situation and health of immigrants living in the Czech Republic. Methods: The data were collected with the help of the quantitative research strategy, the method of interviewing and the technique of selfstructured questionnaire. The data were processed in the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program, version 23.0. The statistical data processing was carried out with the help of Pearson's chi-squared test and with the help of the Analysis of adjusted residues determining the significance of data deviations and expected values. Results: The most interesting findings include the following: The generation 50+ (the set under research) shows obvious differentiation by nationality - the selected integration characteristics are subjectively best rated by the Slovaks and the Polish living in the Czech Republic for more than 10 years - that is clearly related to their knowledge of the Czech language, to their social network and job positions corresponding to their qualification. The Ukrainians have an insufficiently developed network of contacts and practice manual professions without making use of their qualification. That is also related to the fact that they have been living in the Czech Republic less than 5 or less than 10 years. The immigrant generation 50+ also shows statistically significant differences between genders - women report more social contacts, have good language knowledge and practice professions corresponding to their qualifications (primarily administrative, health care or teaching positions). Conclusion: It can be seen that the immigrant generation 50+ shows social health determinant characteristics strongly connected with the duration of stay, nationality or gender. This research was supported by the COST agency (Cooperation on Scientific and Technical Research, registration No. LD 13044) within the ISCH COST Action IS1103 called „Adapting European health systems to diversity“(acronym ADAPT).

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