INTEGRA - Project status and events 2019

During 2019 with the INTEGRA project numerous activities were carried out. The most important events were:

TRAINING COURSE FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL WORKERS
During the first three months of the year, 4 meetings were held at the four project partners’ locations, aimed at health professionals. The aim of the course was to make operators acquire skills related to reproductive health in the different cultural contexts from which foreign patients or refugees or asylum seekers come. The events were held respectively: January 21 - University of Trieste; February 4 - IRCCS Burlo Garofalo; February 18 - Postumia Hospital; March 7 - University of Primorska, Faculty of Health Sciences, Isola.

WORKSHOP: THE ROLE OF THE INTERCULTURAL MEDIATOR - TRIESTE
On January 21 at the University of Trieste the Workshop focused on “The role of the intercultural mediator”, a key figure acting as a bridge between integration, health, health security and identity needs between migrant women and the institutions of the host country.

DISSEMINATION: GENERAL STATES OF WOMEN, FROM EXPO 2015 TO MATERA 2019 - MATERA
On 24 and 25 January at the “Stati Generali Delle Donne, from Expo 2015 to Matera 2019”, a national meeting coordinated by Isa Maggi, Ornella Urpis presented a report on the INTEGRA project entitled: “Sexual and reproductive health as an indicator of social integration”.

WORKSHOP: WOMEN, MIGRATION AND HEALTH - ISLAND
The conference Women, Migration and Health, held on 7 February 2019, at the University of the Izola Coastal Region, presented in detail the state of the art of the project, starting from the demographic, socio-economic and reproductive characteristics of migrant women in Slovenia, and then dealing with approaches and good practices in the field of integration and thus deepening both the experiences of migrants within the health system and the point of view of health workers. The main difficulties faced by both migrants and health workers were also presented. The participants in the round table organised at the end of the meeting tried to respond to these issues. The conference was attended by researchers involved in the INTEGRA project, foreign scholars, representatives of trade associations, NGOs and MEP Tanja Fajon. On the occasion was also presented the monograph edited by Mirko Prosen, Sabina Ličen, Igor Karnjuš “Women, migration and health: ensuring transcultural healthcare” which collects the views and contributions of several scholars on the topic of holistic health care.

DISSEMINATION: PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFERENCE OF THE PINA ASSOCIATION (CENTRE FOR INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE) – KOPER-CAPODISTRIA
On 14 February 2019 the NGO PiNA organized a conference at which the state of the art in the field of integration of migrants in the territory of Slovenian Istria and related good practices were presented. At the invitation of the organizers, Mirko Prosen for UP FVZ participated in the conference. The aim of the event was to define the main challenges faced by organisations active in the integration of migrants, migrants themselves and the local population and to look for possible strategies for their resolution. The conference had the character of an open and operational discussion, stimulating the active participation of all the participants in order to seek together forms of social innovation and concrete solutions. The further implementation of existing good practices in the field of inclusion in local communities was also discussed.

INSTITUTIONAL TABLE: MIGRANTS AMONG US - POSTOJNA
On 18 February the first Institutional Project Table was organized at the Postojna Hospital. The table was attended by representatives of the Municipality of Postojna, the Centre for Social Assistance Postojna, the Postojna Centre for Foreigners, the Faculty of Health Sciences in Izola, the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana, and the Forest School in Postojna. The purpose of the round table was to highlight some important issues related to the care of migrants and the importance of the skills that people who interact with them must have.

DISSEMINATION: PARTICIPATION IN EUROPEAN CONGRESS ON INTRAPARTUM CARE - MAKING BIRTH SAFER - TURIN
The UP FVZ working group participated in the fourth edition of the European Congress on Intrapartum Care - Making Birth Safer, held in Turin between 14 and 16 March 2019. Two contributions were presented: “Immigrant women’s experiences with intrapartum care” and “Evidence based learning as an educational strategy to improve cultural competence among healthcare professionals in intrapartum care: a literature review”. The conference was also an excellent opportunity to establish new contacts and exchange good practices.

DISSEMINATION: PARTICIPATION IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN CROATIA - OPATIJA
On 28 and 29 March 2019, the UP FVZ working group participated in the international conference “Global Nursing and Healthcare” in Opatija (Croatia), presenting two contributions: “The changing contours of nursing education: addressing health disparities by implementing culturally oriented clinical simulations” and Sexual and reproductive characteristics of hospital-admitted migrant women in Slovenia during 2012-2017”. Croatian colleagues showed great interest in the work carried out within the project.

ESA - MANCHESTER CONFERENCE
The abstract of a report on “Patriarchal Cultural Models And Migrant Women’s Sexual And Reproductive Health” that Giovanni Delli Zotti and Ornella Urpis will hold within the section “RN16 - Sociology of Health and Illness” has been accepted for presentation at the 14th Conference of the European Sociological Association (ESA) (Manchester, 20-23 August 2019).

DISSEMINATION: LECTURE AT THE NURSING AND OBSTETRICS SECTION OF THE ORDER OF HEALTH WORKERS - PTUJ
The Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Primorska took an active part in the national meeting of Slovenian midwives, organized on 5 April 2019 in Ptuj, with a lecture by Mirko Prosen entitled “Intercultural obstacles in perinatal care: the perspective of birthing women and health workers”.

DISSEMINATION: LECTURE AT THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA
As part of the initiative “Dan za spremembe” (Day for Change) promoted by Slovenska Filantropija, Chair of Occupational and Organisational Psychology - Department of Psychology of FF UL organized an event on 26 March 2019 where the project results were presented with a special focus on discrimination (Predstavitev rezultatov projekta INTEGRA INTERREG ltaly-Slovenija V-A 201.4-2020: pasti diskriminacije v zdravstveni obravnavi - Presentation of the results of the INTEGRA project - Interreg Italy-Slovenia V-A 2014-2020: the dangers of discrimination in health care).

INSTITUTIONAL TABLE: INTEGRATION POLICIES AND SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WOMEN - TRIESTE
On April 8th the second Institutional Project Table was organized at the University of Trieste. The table was attended for the University of Trieste by Prof. Giovanni Delli Zotti, Giuseppe Ricci, Moreno Zago and Ornella Urpis, for IRCCS Burlo Garofalo, Dr. Federica Scrimin and the Health Director Dr. Nelso Trua. The speakers were Dr. Chiara Tunini and Dr. Letizia Nisco who specifically deal with issues related to health and violence against women in the Social Policies Area of the Health, Social Policies and Disability Department of the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Prof. Elena Meriggi of the Regional School Office and the cultural mediator Hasnaa Naggay. of the National Association Beyond Borders. The key issues of the project in relation to the institutions operating in the territory were discussed.

DISSEMINATION: INTERVIEW RAI TRE
On 11 April, a report on the INTEGRA project was presented in the newsreel of Rai Tre, recorded at the Burlo Garofolo Hospital. Dr. Federica Scrimin interviewed by the journalist explained the objectives of the project and the activities carried out.

KICK OFF MEETING PROJECT CIMCS - TRIESTE
On April 12, 2019 Giovanni Delli Zotti and Ornella Urpis took part in Trieste at the Conference to launch the FAMI Project (European Migration and Integration Fund) - IMPACT FVG 2018-2020. Lead partner of the project is the CIMCS - Interdepartmental Centre for Migration and International Cooperation for Sustainable Development of the University of Trieste, which is joined by the DiSPeS Department, lead partner of INTEGRA. CIMCS is directed by Roberta Altin, member of UniTS research group.

DISSEMINATION: WOMEN ECONOMIC FORUM - NEW DEHLI
On 13 April 2019 the report sent by Ornella Urpis to the Womena Economic Forum in New Dehli was read. The main results of the research carried out at the Burlo Garofolo Hospital in Trieste, where many foreign women from countries where the maintenance of certain cultural models sometimes prevents the full exercise of women’s right to sexual and reproductive health, with particular reference to the issue of female genital mutilation and forced marriages, were disseminated.

DISSEMINATION: PARTICIPATION IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOHNEU 2019 - BUDAPEST
The UP FVZ working group participated in the seventh edition of the FOHNEU International Congress “Workforce health=National Wealth” which was held in Budapest, Hungary, between 23 and 26 April 2019. On that occasion a contribution entitled “Migrant workers re-joined wives’ perspective on health issues and social integration” was presented. The conference was an excellent opportunity to present the results of the INTEGRA project and to create new contacts.

VIDEO: WOMEN’S LAWS AND RIGHTS
It is a 3.50 minute video, translated and edited in 10 languages: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, French, English, Italian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Turkish. For the multilingual production of the video, cultural mediators were involved both for the written translation of the texts and for the reading of the audio accompaniment. The aim of the video is to provide basic information on women’s right to health. The video consists of a number of key concepts such as: Equal rights and duties in Europe for women and men, Informed consent: women’s right to decide autonomously about it, Professional secrecy for health professionals, Female genital mutilation prohibited in Europe, Violence against women prohibited in Europe, Anti-violence centres and their useful numbers, Maternity protection, Legal possibilities of pregnancy termination and contraception, Family counselling centres and their contacts.

VIDEO: THE WOMAN’S BODY
It is a 5.42 minute video in which more than 40 anatomical parts are shown in succession. The video has a recurring structure, the screen is ideally divided into three parts: on the left appears a female silhouette on which in turn appear the various anatomical parts, in the center is proposed a graphic enlargement of the part and on the right side of the screen is written the name. At the same time the narrating voice reads the name of the illustrated organ. The video was created in Italian and Slovenian and will be shown in the waiting rooms of the clinics of the two countries. This is in order to teach migrant women the anatomical terms so that they can correctly dialogue with the medical staff and stimulate them. The key concept is “The word is health”.

BROCHURE: FAMILY PLANNING
10 versions of the 34-page brochure have been formatted, corresponding to the 10 languages in which it has been translated by the cultural mediators: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, French, English, Italian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Turkish. The brochure is divided into sections dedicated to the following themes: Female reproductive system, Male reproductive system, Fertilization, Methods of contraception, Emergency contraception, Voluntary termination of pregnancy, Contraception after childbirth, Useful numbers.

FINAL REPORTS
The final reports on WP 3.1, produced in the previous months in Italian and Slovenian, have been further revised and published in the web space of the University’s publishing house (EUT). They aroused great interest so much so that a total of 873 copies were downloaded (646 downloads in Italian; 227 downloads in Slovenian). 
Giovanni Delli Zotti (ed.) (2019), State of sexual and reproductive health of migrant women: difficulties and good practices, Trieste, EUT.

GUIDELINES
Finally, guidelines for health workers and a proposal for social and health indicators for integration policies have been developed (113 downloads in Italian; 95 downloads in Slovenian). 
Giuseppe Ricci, Federica Scrimin (eds) (2019), Guidelines and indicators for sexual and reproductive health of women Migrants, Trieste, EUT.

13 APRIL FINAL CONFERENCE
On Saturday 13th at 9 a.m. at the Auditorium, SSLMIT School, Via Filzi 14, Trieste, the final conference of the project took place, with the subject: “INTEGRA’s response to the demands for health and social integration of migrant women”. The conference opened with the greetings of the authorities, which were followed by two main parts, one on cultural, social and health aspects, followed by the two research bodies and a second one focused on health and social guidelines and indicators. In the first part the difference between current migrations and those of the past decades has been framed; the changes have been very marked and this fact has been underlined by both Italian and Slovenian partners. Migrations in Slovenia are mostly from the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and now also from Russia and Ukraine, while in Italy they have a more heterogeneous origin. Slovenia is mostly a transit country for other types of migration. There are many common problems among migrant women living in Italy or Slovenia; women are not linguistically autonomous, so they are often accompanied by their children or husbands in order to understand the words of doctors. In Italy there is the figure of the cultural mediator who supports the work of health care professionals and acts as a channel of linguistic-cultural integration, in Slovenia this professionalism has not yet been developed. Foreign women who ask for political asylum show problems of a different nature than those who entered in the past or with work permits or family reunification. The second part of the conference underlined the importance of the linguistic aspect, since knowing the language of the country where one lives means being able to ask for help and to express one’s suffering. Patients who do not speak the language of the host country are less integrated and therefore have less access to care. Through the dissemination of post-natal detection and termination of pregnancy cards, a whole range of behaviours can be understood. Correct information on the use of contraceptive methods reduces the number of voluntary pregnancy interruptions. In Slovenia the distribution of contraceptives is free of charge and this is a goal to be pursued also in Italy. For many other aspects, instead, the clinical histories are very similar, they are complex stories with a 22% rate of high-risk pregnancies. In order to leave a concrete legacy of all the studies carried out within this project, guidelines have been developed to provide useful support to operators. News of the conference was also given through the local newspaper Il Piccolo which dedicated an article the following day. Moreover, the project was presented by Dr. Scrimin to the microphones of the regional RAI service.

15TH APRIL TRAINING EVENT
Two days later, on Monday, April 15, the training event organized by IRCCS Burlo Garofolo took place at the Aula Magna ENAIP in Via dell’Istria 57, Trieste, with the subject: “IRCBG 19004 The reproductive health of foreign women: the country of departure” for the operators of hospitals and health agencies. The Burlo medical staff, together with the doctors of the WHO Collaborating Centre of Burlo, focused on where and why patients arrive, and the most suitable way to assist them. In FVG about 30% of women who give birth or are admitted to obstetrics and gynaecology wards are foreigners, mainly from Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Serbia, Morocco, China, Kosovo, Bangladesh, Moldova, Bosnia, Macedonia, Ghana, Nigeria. Reproductive health is strongly conditioned by the culture of origin and therefore operators are often required to have specific skills to dialogue with patients and help them make the right health choices. The view of the world was particularly assured by the interventions of Dr. Marzio Babille, pediatrician of Unicef in live video from Iraq and Giovanni Del Frate, Doctors with Africa CUAMM. The closing of the meeting was occupied by the presentation of the materials created, the two videos and brochure described above, and the medical guidelines that were also discussed at the meeting on 13 April.