Immigrant's access to healthcare services: the portuguese case

Abstract

Within the framework of the United Nations, immigrants are considered as a vulnerable group of the population, is especially subject to a different set of vulnerabilities, such as the access to healthcare services. Health is a central aspect of individual and collective life. Thus, to think in the integration process of immigrants necessarily encompasses health. The socioeconomic inequalities that are associated with contexts of poverty, social exclusion, and precarious employment situations can be translated into reduced opportunities to access healthcare services. Despite Portugal have opted for a universal health system that covers all people, including a regulation that allows immigrant's access to healthcare services, inequalities still persist. Using the revision of literature, Portuguese official documents, and specific determinants of health, we identify immigrant's main constraints regarding the access to healthcare services in developed countries, such as Portugal, and then we propose good practices and intervention methods to reduce the vulnerability of immigrants and, at the same time, allow them to achieve better living conditions.