Students for the right to health: participatory action-research to evaluate irregular migrants' healthcare services

The primary objective of this project was to create a map of healthcare services aimed at irregular migrants provided by the local health units (ASL) in Rome, and to promote its use. The project was coordinated by the Sapienza University and the Caritas Diocesana of Rome. Our secondary goal was training and increase the awareness of medical and social work students on migration medicine (MM) and Global Health (GH). The project was conducted from 2012 to 2014 and involved 22 students. The participants were asked to visit the ASLs and interview the healthcare workers. We chose a participatory approach based on field experience. Students were the main researchers and through this approach, they learnt the meaning of right to health; inequality and the social determinants of health. Students used a semi-structured questionnaire to interview healthcare workers. They also used a diary in which they wrote about their experiences. The subsequent analysis of the collected data was used to create a map of the healthcare services available to irregular migrants in Rome. This map includes addresses and opening hours of healthcare services considered useful to facilitate the access of foreigners to such services. At the end of 2014, the map was presented and distributed to the h e a l t h c a r e w o r k e r s i n v o l v e d . In the current global scenario, in which a key role is played by the phenomenon of migration, social issues are gaining more and more importance in health- and disease-related processes (social determinants of health). A sociologic analysis of the personal diaries highlighted the large portion of health education that is still based on a biologically-centered medical practice, characterized by professional individualism and more geared towards taking care of diseases rather than the affected people. The students involved in this study learned how protecting migrants' health means, first and foremost, to defend the inalienable right to health, and to enhance their own awareness through empowerment