THE GIPSY CHILD: COMMUNITY HEALTH APPROCHES

Key words: Gipsies, Ethnic minorities, Disadvantaged children, Community paediatrics, Community health

The experience of community child health services of a health authority in Emilia-Romagna in dealing with gipsy community and particularly with gipsy children is described. Abandonement of newborns in hospital after delivery and low immunization coverage at entrance in school were the two main problems encountered and at the same time represented the “entry points” for an approach to the gipsy community. The child health programs for the gipsy community at present include a weekly visits to the gipsy camp for promotion of immunization, healthy behaviours and attendance to school, support to the new mothers and early discharge from hopsital of the newborn,monitoring of growth and development, follow-up of health problems. To be effective, the interventions made by the health sector must involve school authorities and social services to discuss and identify strategies and interdisciplinary approaches to the community as well as to individual cases.