Migrants from Turkey face several barriers to a successful integration in Switzerland including equal access to the health care system; most important are language problems, cultural and economic barriers. According to the scientific report of the Federal Bureau of Health "Migration and Health" current forms of therapy do not fulfil the needs of this patient population. Ambulatory and in-hospital services are devoted to the acute phase of a pain disorder; they are not imbedded into the circumstances of daily living. Re-Adjusting to daily life however, is crucial for patients' attempt to return to normality. Therefore therapeutic offers are needed to close the gap between high intensity treatment in hospitals and almost no treatment in the ambulatory setting. We developed an integrative post acute model of patient care, consisting of assisted self-help groups that is presented in the current paper. © 2007 by Verlag Hans Huber, Hogrefe AG.

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patient care cultural anthropology human Ethnic Groups economic aspect Stress, Psychological Turkey (republic) pain language Humans male Emigrants and Immigrants Acculturation Article Self-Help Groups migration Turkey ambulatory care somatoform disorder health care system Patient Care Team Switzerland self help