HEALTH-SERVICES TO IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE POPULATION - PATIENT AND PROVIDER CROSS-CULTURAL-PERSPECTIVE

Health services provided to immigrants and refugees are not always per ceived as useful by this target population. Sometimes they are based o n ''Explanatory Models'' incompatible to the patients', whose language of distress may not be understood by the health providers in the host country. Providers and patients often perceive illness causation and treatment in a different way and cross-cultural misunderstandings are quite common. This can be particularly serious in the area of mental h ealth. Strategies to improve health services for immigrant and refugee population are proposed.