[Problems and proposals for improvement in the health care of economic immigrants].

OBJECTIVES: To analyse existing problems in health care to economic immigrants from the point of view of health and social professionals, health authorities and economic immigrants and to know which will be their proposals and priorities to improve economic immigrants's health assistance.
METHODS: Qualitative approach study made in Majorca island. (Spain). Three focus groups and three nominal groups with health and social workers from primary health care and hospital services were carried out as well as two partially structured interviews to health authorities, one Autonomic Authority and one Governmental Authority, and twelve partially structured interviews to economic immigrants identified trough key informants.
RESULTS: Health and social workers perceive the increase in the number of economic immigrants as a massive arrival. The main problems identified are: access restrictions to public health services for economic immigrants, the follow-up of these patients and diagnostic difficulties because lack of training in tropical medicine. Health and social workers's first proposal for improving this situation is their own training in tropical medicine. Autonomic Authority priorities are to guarantee access to public health services for all immigrants and to look actively for health problems in these population. Governmental Authority, instead, holds the legalization for all. In fact, economic immigrants are not concerned on health care because legalization and housing problems.
CONCLUSIONS: The main barriers identified by health and social workers in health care to economic immigrants are: access restrictions, follow-up and lack of training in tropical medicine. Health and social first proposal to improve this situation is their own training in tropical medicine while Autonomic and Central Authorities's priorities are not the same. For economic immigrants, health assistance is not their biggest concern.