SAV Anthropologist Publishes Study on Causes of Poor Health of Roma in Slovakia

Bratislava, November 23 (TASR) - Anthropologist Andrej Belak from the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) has published a scientific study focusing on the causes of poor health among excluded Roma communities in Slovakia, TASR has learnt from SAV spokeswoman Monika Tinakova. Published in one of the world's most prestigious social science journals, the study is based mainly on a series of in-depth field research projects conducted between 2004 and 2015. "The research mapped out in detail the daily practices of excluded Roma and various health-care professionals who worked with them on a daily basis," said Tinakova. According to her, the study provides a clear summary of deeper contexts that have previously been little known in the global context. For example, the study explains that one cultural adaptation to long-term oppression in marginalised Roma communities is the creation and adherence to group (ethnic) ideals that contrast with the norms of the rest of society. Among other findings, it also explains that one adaptation to the inadequate services provided to excluded Roma by health-care professionals is the informal introduction or tolerance of a double standard in the quality of care. lin/df/zel