Patienten mit Migrationshintergrund im Kontext psychosomatischer Rehabilitation : Quo vadis?

The percentage of people with an immigrant background in the Federal Republic of Germany has risen steadily in recent years. Cultural diversity provides both opportunities and social challenges. These include the impact of mental disorders of immigrants on those affected, their direct social environment, and on society. To date, there is little research activity that deals with the specific interface of mentally ill immigrants, their ability to work, and psychosomatic rehabilitation. Mental illness as a reason for a disability pension has an even greater significance for people with an immigrant background than for insured German people. At the same time, however, poorer rehabilitation success among immigrants with mental illness is being reported. In the study presented below, reported poorer treatment outcomes in immigrants are replicated. Including social class, however, shows that this has a greater significance in predicting rehabilitation success than the immigrant background itself. From the perspective of the ICF, an immigrant background can be considered both an obstacle as well as a benefit. Examining the validity of the complaints showed that more conspicuous test results in terms of a potentially invalid test result can be seen in immigrants. When including other factors, however, the immigrant background becomes less significant in the explanation of test results. The presented studies demonstrate that an immigrant background should not be used as the sole explanatory factor in explaining poorer rehabilitation success and increased disability pensions among immigrants. Rather, social class in particular is of far greater importance. Improving health literacy is proposed as a concrete measure to improve treatment results. An informational and preparation group is presented, with which both people with and without an immigrant background can be reached .