The role of culture and religion in health care provision for migrants. Experiences from medical rehabilitation and explanatory mechanisms

Background: As compared to the German host population, migrants differ in many aspects of their health that are relevant for health care provision. Current explanatory models of migrant health neglect the importance of cultural and religious factors. Using recent empirical data from the field of medical rehabilitation as an example, we point out the potential role of these factors in clinical practice. We discuss explanatory mechanisms of how these factors can create barriers to health care access and to the effectiveness of therapeutic regimens. Methods: Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (n=19,521), qua…