Frühe Hilfen sollen Familien in belastenden Lebenslagen während einer Schwangerschaft oder der frühen Kindheit (0-3 Jahre) bedarfsgerecht unterstützen. Es ist jedoch unklar, ob Roma-Familien von den Frühen Hilfen gut erreicht und begleitet werden können. Der Bedarf scheint jedenfalls gegeben, was aus dem Literaturbericht – dem ersten Ergebnis unseres Projektes – hervorgeht.
Das Projekt wurde gemeinsam mit dem Romano Centro konzipiert und wird seit 1.1.2020 gemeinsam mit den Wiener Volkshochschulen unter Einbindung von Forscherinnen mit Roma-Hintergrund umgesetzt. Ziel ist es herauszufinden, ob spezifische Hürden bestehen, die den Zugang zu den Frühen Hilfen und eine gute Begleitung durch diese erschweren oder gar verhindern. Des weiteren sollen Empfehlungen abgeleitet werden, wie diese Hürden reduziert bzw. verhindert werden können.
Die Literaturrecherche und –analyse war der erste Schritt des Projektes. Es folgen qualitative Methoden zur Vertiefung der Ergebnisse bzw. zur besseren Einschätzung der Situation in Österreich. Das Projekt läuft bis Ende 2021, es wird über das European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme sowie über Mittel, die im Rahmen der Finanzierung des österreichischen Nationalen Zentrums Frühe Hilfen durch BGA-Vorsorgemittel für Begleitforschung gewidmet sind, finanziert. *******
This report is the first result of a project funded by the European Union and by the Austrian Bundesgesundheitsagentur (budget dedicated for research of the National Centre for Early Childhood Interventions). It is meant to be the first chapter of the final project report. The overall objective of the project is to carry out a Roma population centred study using participatory methods of investigation: Whether the Austrian Early Childhood Interventions Programme in its current form is designed to reach and to effectively support the Roma population and, if not, what is required in order to better streamline the programme to the needs of the Roma families? Whether external attitudes towards Roma communities and the nature of public awareness in the health and social sector in Austria are a barrier for Roma families to participate in this programme? In a first step a systematic literature review was conducted, the results of which are being pre-sented in this report. In the next steps qualitative methods will be used to deepen the insight in the Austrian situation and to come up with recommendations. The literature search was carried out in January 2020 both with PubMed and by searching relevant websites. Further publications were identified either before (while drafting the project proposal) or after the literature research, partly with the help of the project partners. The results confirm the poorer health status of Roma (adults and children) compared to the health status of the general population in many countries. This is due to the strained living conditions and more or less consistent with the situation of other vulnerable (socially/socioeconomically dis-advantaged) groups. Discrimination is widespread and experienced on an individual, structural and on societal level. It is closely related to poverty and increased social exclusion. Roma/Romnja often live in poorer conditions (education, work, housing, financial situation) leading to poorer health – either directly or due to lack of health insurance and services. Experiences of discrimination have cognitive and psychological effects, which in turn are a barrier to accessing health services. A negative cycle is therefore described, including expectations of certain behaviour by the health services staff as well as by Roma/Romnja themselves. As in many societies, Romnja are traditionally responsible for family health. The traditional role of Romnja focuses on parenting and housekeeping, so girls often drop out of school and become mothers at an early age. Men often have control over family planning, pregnancies are seen as positive, which leads to many children. For mothers, the health of their children is more important than their own. They often see themselves as highly competent in their parental skills, but at the same time follow traditions for example in the treatment of diseases that may not be effective. Recommendations to tackle the situation include the training and use of health mediators (from Roma communities), low-threshold and outreach services, health literacy promotion, awareness-raising among health professionals and – most importantly - improving the living conditions of Roma/Romnja.