Health and consumption of health care and social service among old migrants in Sweden

Abstract

Due to migration, an increasing number of the elderly in Sweden will be foreign-born, ‘old migrants’. Old migrants will need help from society with health care and social service. Migration may influence people's health and thus also their consumption of health care and social service. The aim of the present study was to discuss migration and health with the focus on old migrants by a review of literature, and to describe the pattern of health care and social service consumption among old migrants living in Sweden, studying whether there were any differences compared with old people born in Sweden. The results showed that there is a lack of data describing old migrants' health. Available data indicate poorer self-rated health, more chronic illness and impaired mobility capacity. There are some Swedish studies describing morbidity and mortality among migrants in Sweden. These are consistent: migrants have more health problems in general and migrants from the Nordic countries have a higher mortality rate. There are no public statistics about old migrants' consumption of health care and social service in Sweden. Some studies show that old migrants consume less than native Swedes. Other studies indicate the same or higher consumption of health care, but lower consumption of social service among migrants. In conclusion, few studies concern health and consumption of health care and social care among old migrants; the results are divergent and there could be several different explanations for dissimilarities, such as migrational background, cultural distance, time of residence, socioeconomic position and adaptation in the new society. Thus, further studies are needed.