Sovereign Rules and Rearrangements: Banning Methadone in Occupied Crimea.

In 2014, Russian authorities in occupied Crimea shut down all medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs for patients with opioid use disorder. These closures dramatically enacted a new political order. As the sovereign occupiers in Crimea advanced new constellations of citizenship and statehood, so the very concept of "right to health" was re-tooled. Social imaginations of drug use helped single out MAT patients as a population whose "right to health," protected by the state, would be artificially restricted. Here, I argue that such acts of medical disenfranchisement should be understood as contemporary acts of statecraft.

Subjective Social Status in select Ukrainians, Vietnamese, and Mongolians living in the Czech Republic.

OBJECTIVES: This article discusses methods of examining subjective social status (SSS), which is based on the concept of social determinants of health described by Wilkinson and Marmot in 1998. METHODS: SSS research was conducted with Cooperation from the Scientific and Technical Research (COST) program, with financial support from the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. This study is part of a project entitled the "Health and Social Status of Immigrants and Asylum Seekers in the Czech Republic" (registration number OC 10031), which was started in 2010 and concluded in May 2011. The study included 246 respondents of which: 69 (28.1%) had emigrated from Vietnam; 93 (37.8%) from the Ukraine; and 84 (34.1%) from Mongolia. In terms of qualitative strategies, 13 individual immigrants and asylum seekers were personally interviewed. This research was thus conceived as being both quantitative-qualitative, which included the use of the appropriate technical tools (i.e., questionnaires and interviews with select immigrants and asylum seekers). SSS was determined using the Pearson's chi-square test, as well as through correspondence and cluster analyzes. Sign schemes were used to detect select significant relationships in contingency tables. The minimum significance level chosen was α ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: When examining the SSS of select nationalities, differences were observed in the perception of subjective social status. The correspondence analysis results clearly show that Ukrainians best perceived their social status (within the selected parameters). One measure of subjectively perceived social status related to Czech language proficiency (i.e., one criterion was the comprehension of spoken Czech; e.g., whether the respondent could read or speak Czech, or how they assessed their own Czech proficiency). CONCLUSION: The SSS study clearly revealed typical links among select nationalities living in the Czech Republic, and highlighted risks related to the degree of integration (and its relationship to social exclusion). This study served as a pilot project for follow-up research conducted by the second COST project entitled: "Social Determinants of Health and their Impact on the Health of Immigrants Living in the Czech Republic" (registration number LD 13044 COST). The follow-up study included 1 000 respondents of Slovak, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Russian and Polish nationality and is currently underway at the Faculty of Health and Social Studies at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic. The methodological tools used were taken from the COST pilot project (which is the topic of this article) and were adjusted as needed (i.e., both objective and subjective criteria were used for examining social status).

Immigrants' access to health insurance: no equality without awareness.

The Czech government has identified commercial health insurance as one of the major problems for migrants' access to health care. Non-EU immigrants are eligible for public health insurance only if they have employee status or permanent residency. The present study examined migrants' access to the public health insurance system in Czechia. A cross-sectional survey of 909 immigrants from Ukraine and Vietnam was conducted in March and May 2013, and binary logistic regression was applied in data analysis. Among immigrants entitled to Czech public health insurance due to permanent residency/asylum, 30% were out of the public health insurance system, and of those entitled by their employment status, 50% were out of the system. Migrants with a poor knowledge of the Czech language are more likely to remain excluded from the system of public health insurance. Instead, they either remain in the commercial health insurance system or they simultaneously pay for both commercial and public health insurance, which is highly disadvantageous. Since there are no reasonable grounds to stay outside the public health insurance, it is concluded that it is lack of awareness that keeps eligible immigrants from entering the system. It is suggested that no equal access to health care exists without sufficient awareness about health care system.

Effect of acculturation and health beliefs on utilization of health care services by elderly women who immigrated to the USA from the former Soviet Union.

In this mixed methods study, researchers explored what conditions influence women's use of professional health care services, and how sociocultural environments and acculturation affect utilization of health care services. We recruited 15 women in the Ukraine, 15 women who immigrated from the former Soviet Union, and 10 female U.S. citizens. Data include open-ended interviews, a "general information" questionnaire, and the Language, Identity and Behavioral Acculturation scale. Acculturation levels and length of residency in the United States were not consistent predictors of health-seeking behaviors for immigrants. The stronger predictor of health beliefs and health related behaviors among all participants was their mothers' health beliefs and health related behaviors.

Care workers, care drain, and care chains: reflections on care, migration, and citizenship.

In this article, we discuss a case study that deals with the care chain phenomenon and focuses on the question of how Poland and the Ukraine as sending countries and Poland as a receiving country are affected and deal with female migrant domestic workers. We look at the ways in which these women organize care replacement for their families left behind and at those families' care strategies. As public discourse in both countries is reacting to the feminization of migration in a form that specifically questions the social citizenship obligations of these women, we also look at the media portrayal of the situation of nonmigrating children. Finally, we explore how different aspects of citizenship matter in transnational care work migration movements.

Maternal education and adverse birth outcomes among immigrant women to the United States from Eastern Europe: a test of the healthy migrant hypothesis.

Immigrant women to the U.S. often have more favorable birth outcomes than their native-born counterparts, including lower rates of preterm birth and low birth weight, a phenomenon commonly attributed to a healthy migrant effect. However, this effect varies by ethnicity and country of origin. No previous study has examined birth outcomes among immigrants from the post-Communist countries of Eastern Europe, a group which includes both economic migrants and conflict refugees. Using data on 253,363 singletons births from New York City during 1995-2003 we examined the risk of preterm birth (PTB) (<37 weeks) or delivering a term small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant among immigrants from Russia and Ukraine (RU), Poland, and former Yugoslavia Republics (FYR) relative to US-born non-Hispanic whites (NHW). Women in all three Eastern European groups had significantly later entry into prenatal care, were more likely to be Medicaid recipients, and had lower educational attainment than US-born NHW. In binomial regression analyses adjusting for age, education, parity, and pre-pregnancy weight, women from RU and FYR had lower risk of PTB than US-born NHW, whereas women from Poland had similar risk. Lower SGA risk was found among women from Poland and FYR, but not RU. When stratified by education, women with <12 years of education from all Eastern European groups had a reduced risk of PTB relative to US-born NHW. An educational gradient in PTB and SGA risk was less pronounced in all Eastern European groups compared to US-born NHW. The healthy migrant effect is present among immigrants from Eastern Europe to the U.S., especially among women with less education and those from the former Yugoslavia, a group that included many conflict refugees.

Commemorating the future in post-war Chernivtsi.

Throughout the Second World War and the post-war period, the city of Chernivtsi was transformed from a multiethnic and borderland urban microcosm into a culturally uniform Soviet socialist city. As the Soviets finally took power in this onetime capital of a Hapsburg province in 1944, they not only sponsored further large-scale population transfers but also "repopulated" its history, creating a new urban myth of cultural uniformity. This article examines the connection between war commemoration in Chernivtsi in the era of post-war, state-sponsored anti-Semitism and the formation of collective memory and identities of the city's post-war population. The images of homogeneously Ukrainian Chernivtsi and Bukovina were created through the art of monumental propaganda, promoting public remembrance of certain events and personalities while making sure that others were doomed to oblivion. Selective commemoration of the wartime events was an important tool of drawing the borders of Ukrainian national identity, making it exclusivist and ethnic-based. Through an investigation of the origins of the post-war collective memory in the region, this article addresses the problem of perceived discontinuity between all things Soviet and post-Soviet in Ukraine. It demonstrates that it is, on the contrary, the continuity between Soviet and post-Soviet eras that defines today's dominant culture and state ideology in Ukraine and particularly in its borderlands.

The self-reported health of legal and illegal/irregular immigrants in the Czech Republic.

OBJECTIVES: To test whether immigrants with illegal/irregular status have higher odds of poor self-rated health (SRH) than immigrants with legal status, and whether different demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial factors affect SRH among legal and illegal/irregular immigrants. METHODS: Analysis is based on data from two questionnaire surveys of 285 Post-Soviet and Vietnamese immigrants (126 legal and 159 illegal/irregular) living and working in the Czech Republic, which were conducted between 2003 and 2006. The risk of poor SRH was estimated by ordered polytomous regression, the dependent variable was SRH, and selected demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial characteristics entered the analysis as explanatory variables. RESULTS: Odds of poor SRH among illegal immigrants were not statistically significantly higher than among legal migrants in fully adjusted analysis. Females and older immigrants had poorer SRH. Satisfaction with work, and, partly, with housing were found to have a significant role. Educational level and 'social communication' variables did not have an important role in predicting SRH. CONCLUSIONS: Inequalities in SRH among legal and illegal immigrants were largely explained by socioeconomic and psychosocial factors in this study. These results should stimulate further research activities that might improve health policy and planning related to immigrants' health in this and other countries in Europe.

Children of perestroika: the changing socioeconomic conditions in Russia and Ukraine and their effect on the psychological well-being of high-school adolescents.

The present study investigates how the changing socioeconomic conditions in Russia and Ukraine affect the psychological well-being of high-school adolescents in these countries. Six indexes of psychological well-being, the adolescents' perception of the economic conditions in their families, perceived parental practices (care and autonomy providing), and perceived social support were measured in 1999 and 2007. Macro-level socioeconomic conditions in Russia and Ukraine, as well as the adolescents' perception of the economic conditions in their family, substantially improved from 1999 to 2007. However, the psychological well-being of the adolescents, as well as their perception of parental practices and the social support received from parents, peers, and teachers did not change. Russian adolescents consistently reported higher self-esteem and school competence than their Ukrainian peers, as well as higher parental care and autonomy providing, and higher social support received from peers. At the individual level, perceived parental care and autonomy providing, as well as perceived social support from parents, peers, and teachers were the major contributors to the adolescents' psychological well-being. The obtained results are discussed in light of the conservation of resources and ecological systems theories.

Acculturation and socialization: voices of internationally educated nurses in Ontario.

BACKGROUND: This paper describes a study that explores the experiences of internationally educated nurses (IENs) in their efforts to gain entry to practice as Registered Nurses (RNs) in the province of Ontario, Canada. AIM: The aim was to uncover, in part, the issues related to professional nursing credentialling. METHODS: This study was guided by a biographical narrative (qualitative) research methodology. A convenience sample of 12 IEN students volunteered for this study representing the Philippines, Mainland China, Korea, Ukraine and India. FINDINGS: The findings were that the IENs progress through a three-phase journey in their quest for licensure in Ontario. These phases include: (1) hope - wanting the Canadian dream of becoming an RN in Ontario; (2) disillusionment - discovering that their home-country nursing qualifications do not meet Ontario RN entry to practice; and (3) navigating disillusionment - living the redefined Canadian dream by returning to nursing school to upgrade their nursing qualifications. CONCLUSIONS: Professional regulatory nursing bodies and nursing educators, as well as practising nurses, must be aware of the potentially confusing and unpleasant processes IENs go through as they qualify for the privilege of practising nursing in Ontario.

Ethnic intermarriage in times of social change: the case of Latvia.

We gain insight into the dynamics of ethnic intermarriage in times of social change by studying marriages between Latvians and Russians (including Belarussians and Ukrainians) that occurred in Latvia before and after independence from the Soviet Union. Before independence, ethnic intermarriage was already rather common, involving about 17% of the marriages annually. Since independence, intermarriage between Russians and Latvians has increased substantially. Part of this increase can be explained by selective emigration, but at least half of it may be due to integrative processes. Although there were more marriages between Russian men and Latvian women before independence, the gender pattern reversed after independence. Intermarriage levels were the highest among the less educated, children of mixed couples, partners with similar educational levels, and people in the countryside.

Attitudes toward sex and sex offences among Israeli and former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic youth: implication for prevention strategies for new immigrants.

The phenomenon of sex offences among new immigrants from the former USSR is a source of concern in Israel. This research studied students from Israel (n = 257) and the Ukraine (n = 195) to learn about their system of social norms and values regarding sex and sex offences. For the purposes of this study, a new tool was structured and validated that examines attitudes toward 11 spheres of life connected with the research topic, such as the status of men and the victim's responsibility for rape. The principal findings show significant differences in the norms and values of the surveyed groups, reflecting negative norms among Ukrainian youth. Results are examined in light of the possible implications for understanding the phenomenon of sexual violence among immigrant youth from the former USSR and the appropriate methods for treating them in Israel. The discussion highlights possible implications for other countries that face similar issues.

Caregiver and elder experiences of Cambodian, Vietnamese, Soviet Jewish, and Ukrainian refugees.

Our purpose was to describe and compare Cambodian, Vietnamese, Soviet Jewish, and Ukrainian refugee caregivers and elders on life experiences, health status, and knowledge of available services. Detailed interviews were conducted with 105 female caregivers and 52 elders. Similar patterns emerged across all groups with regard to filial obligation, minimal knowledge of services, impact of immigration, and retention of cultural ties. Findings confirmed the special health and social service needs of refugee families in transition.

The Nazi ethnographic research of Georg Leibbrandt and Karl Stumpp in Ukraine, and its North American legacy.

Scholars have recently debated the topic of German academics who directly or indirectly served the Nazi machinery of death and who then went on to successful professional careers after the war. This article examines the activities of two prominent émigré scholars, Drs. Georg Leibbrandt (1899-1982) and Karl Stumpp (1896-1982). These Ukrainian Germans emigrated to Germany after World War 1. In America, most members of the Russian-German ethnic community never knew that Leibbrandt had represented Alfred Rosenberg's Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, or that under his supervision Stumpp led a Sonderkommando in Ukraine. This unit classified hundreds of villages, indirectly documenting the annihilation of Jews and others. The authors conclude that one consequence of Leibbrandt's and Stumpp's "return to normalcy" after the war was the growing fascination with genealogical research that affected the Russian-German ethnic community in North America-research partly based on 1930s and 1940s Nazi racial record-keeping.