Abstract. This study examines health and multidimensional vulnerability among refugees and asylum seekers inItaly, exploring their key determinants. Using original data from the first Italian survey on thispopulation (ItRAS), we develop two indices:theHealth Vulnerability Index (HVI), which focuses onmental health, nutritional status, and healthcare accessandthe Multidimensional Vulnerability Index(MVI), which captures economic hardship, residential segregation, physical and mental health,legal andsocial protection.We apply Gamma regression models to analyse the relationship between both kindsof vulnerability and socio-demographic and legal factors. For both aspects of vulnerability, our findingsindicate that asylum seekers face significantly higher vulnerability than individuals with more securelegal status. Furthermore, the higher vulnerability is that of the elderly, Africans, people with loweducation and those who recently arrived in Italy. While no differences emerge between men andwomen, once focusing on those with a more precarious legal status, women result as less vulnerable,probably due to the targeted assistance initiatives that identify them as a vulnerable category a priori.Noticeably, high vulnerability in health is associated with discrimination and exacerbated by living insouthern Italy, where public healthcare is historically underfunded.
Link: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-96033-8_6
