Kontakt 2023, 25(4):321-327 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2023.041

The influence of social environment on the health of disadvantaged population groupsSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Mária Šupínová^{1, *}, Pavel Bartoš², Pavel Bartošík^{2, 3}

¹ Slovak Medical University in Bratislava, Faculty of Health, Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic

² University of Health and Social Work St. Elizabeth, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

³ The Central Slovak Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic

Introduction: Aetiological factors that have a negative effect on the health of socially weak and disadvantaged population groups are diverse. To improve the situation, analysing them is essential.

Objective: To establish and analyze the most common determinants that result from the social environment and affect the health status of the members of Roma communities living on the territory of the Slovak Republic in Roma settlements.

Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 300 residents of marginalized Roma settlements in Slovakia, who participated in a questionnaire survey.

Results: The results show a low level of educational attainment and employment rate, and a very low level of living standards among the respondents. A statistically significant relationship between respondents' employment and living standards was proven. [χ2(1) = 15.831, p < 0.001]. Reliable results were proven in the relationship between educational attainment and participation in preventive health checks [χ2 (1) = 6.818, p = 0.009], in the relationship between the quality of housing and morbidity [χ2 (1) = 4.951, p = 0.026], and in the occurrence of respiratory diseases and housing conditions [χ2 (1) = 9.339, p = 0.002].

Conclusion: Education level and socio-economic factors were proven to be fundamental determinants of the health status of the members of Roma communities living in the marginalized settlements. Higher employability and employment rate of the members of Roma communities may help to improve the unfavourable situation.

Keywords: Community health; Education; Employment; Roma

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: July 28, 2023; Revised: September 27, 2023; Accepted: November 14, 2023; Prepublished online: November 15, 2023; Published: December 18, 2023  Show citation