ABSTRACT
Immigration is a complex process that has a profound impact on different areas of human life. Immigrants' health has been on the research agenda for a long time due to several reasons. First, most of the immigrants are coming from poorer countries where the people's health status is lower than in the host countries, raising the issue for the host country to deal with its immigrants' poor health. Second, due to the increased stress and higher anxiety that immigration provokes, immigrants present an increased risk of developing somatic complaints and illnesses, such as heart disease, depression, or anxiety (e.g., Carmel, 2001; Cornille & Brotherton, 1993). Third, besides their health concerns, another problem for immigrant families is their knowledge about and access to health services. As such, immigrants report utilization of health care services to a significantly lower extent than the native population. The research on Eastern European immigrants' health and health care utilization is extremely limited. This chapter provides several sections on Eastern European immigrants' health status as expressed in the limited literature as well as in a study on their own perspectives on it. In addition, we discuss specific considerations when providing counseling and therapy to these families. Recommendations for providing services to Eastern European immigrants are also presented.
