Life and work abroad in health and in disease

Abstract

An article presented below includes initial results of the study conducted as a part of the project titled (Un)healthy economic migrants – loneliness, stress and disease during financial migration and coping strategies undertaken by migrants which was launched in August 2022. One of its aims is to learn about opinions of migrants on their health condition before and during the migration, as well as on their strategies to maintain health and to cope with diseases. Currently the sample consists of 150 persons, more than the half of them being migrants over 10 years. To evaluate their health condition, subjective indicators and declarations about objective health measures were taken into account. Majority of migrants in the study declare to have had good or very good health condition when going abroad, which is called the effect of a healthy migrant. Currently, their health state is systematically decreasing. The researched group reports many health problems, but only every fifth person suffers from a chronic condition. They usually highly estimate health care services in the country they have migrated to and, when it is needed, they use it often than the one in Poland. Above all, they apply strategies to protect their health and self-therapies. Significant variable differentiating obtained results was sex.