A CROSS-CULTURAL APPROACH TO HEALTH-EDUCATION FOR IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

In an era of increased forced, as well as voluntary, migration of peop les from different cultural backgrounds with different health attitude s and beliefs, traditional forms of preventive medicine and health edu cation are often ineffective. In order to cope with the health needs o f thousands of Ethiopian immigrant adolescents, Youth Aliyah's Medical Services developed a specific health education program for this targe t population, using a cross-cultural approach. The programme is based on anthropological research and combines meaningful concepts of the cu lture of Ethiopian Jews with the knowledge and skills necessary to dea l with life in a complex Israeli society. The programme also includes physical, sexual and mental health educational units. The theoretical, cross-cultural model that underlies this case study can be specifical ly applied to promote the health of immigrants and refugees in differe nt countries.