@misc{10481/58583,
year = {2019},
month = {11},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/58583},
abstract = {The Roma community (RC) has poor health indicators, and providing them with adequate
healthcare requires understanding their culture and cultural differences. Our objective was to
understand the concept of the health and sickness of the RC in Spain, and for this, a qualitative
study was conducted. A content analysis utilizing an inductive approach was used to analyze the
data. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were performed, and four main categories were
obtained after the analysis of the data: perception of the state of health, the value of health, what was
observed, and causal attribution. The inter-relations between the categories shows that the RC have
a dichotomous worldview split between non-sickness (health) and sickness mediated by causal
attribution. Their worldview is polarized into two values: not sick/sick. When not sick, optimism is
prioritized along with happiness, and these two emotions are highly valued, as they also play a
physical and social function. When a person becomes noticeably sick, this is understood as being
in a negative and severe state, and when there are visible physical implications, then the need to
act is made clear. When faced with the need to act, the behavior of the RC is mediated by causal
attributions, influenced by nature and religion, timing, concealment by not mentioning the disease,
and the origin of the healthcare information. For the organization of an adequate health response for
the RC, it is necessary for healthcare systems to be able to merge culture and health care.},
publisher = {MDPI},
keywords = {Roma health},
keywords = {Promotion health},
keywords = {Healthcare cultural sensitivity},
keywords = {Ethnic groups},
keywords = {Healthcare disparities},
keywords = {Social classes},
title = {Concept of Health and Sickness of the Spanish Gypsy Population: A Qualitative Approach},
doi = {10.3390/ijerph16224492},
author = {Ramos Morcillo, Antonio Jesús and Hueso Montoro, César},
}