Symposium ELSA: Migration as a challenge for medicine. A comparison of ethical, juridical, and social aspects in Germany, Croatia, and Austria

In the summer of 2015, a strong migration movement towards Europe set in. This migration trend had different effects on European countries. It created new challenges in the transit and destination countries, especially in the area of medical care.

In the course of the BMBF-Symposium, on the example of three selected European countries – Croatia (transit country), Austria (transit and destination country), and Germany (destination country) – challenges for medical care of migrants under ethical, legal and societal aspects will be considered. These include clinical factors, such as the frequency of certain diseases or healthcare provision for vulnerable patient groups. In addition to the clinical challenges, cultural challenges need to be considered, such as language barrier, which, in many cases, impedes the patient-physician consultation. Moreover, there are different cultural views of self-determination. Finally, deficits in diversity management can be detected in the healthcare systems of many European countries. The confrontation with these challenges occurs in the three countries against the background of different social and legal requirements.

These challenges result in various subjects, which will be discussed during the BMBF-Symposium. To that end, young international scientists and renowned experts from Germany, Croatia and Austria will come together to debate, in an interdisciplinary exchange, ethical, legal, and social framework conditions, and to develop solutions for medical care.

Project lead: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Florian Steger,
Project researcher: Dr. Marcin Orzechowski
Duration: 2018–2019

Call for Papers on H/Soz/Kult