Unmet Health Need Among Roma: Visual Acuity and the Use of Vision Correcting Aids in the Hungarian Roma Population

The Roma population is the largest transnational ethnic minority group in Europe often facing socioeconomic inequalities and various health problems. In the present study we investigated the visual acuity and its affecting factors along with spectacle use of the Roma in comparison with the general population in Hungary.A cross-sectional survey was carried out including 832 participants aged 20 to 64 years. We recorded the visual acuity, anthropometric, demographic, socioeconomic and health-related data of each individual. Although the average uncorrected visual acuity was somewhat higher, the use of a visual aid was significantly less frequent in the Roma population, especially in the group with a visual acuity below 0.5 in both eyes (14.3% vs 77.1%, p<0.001). Age, abdominal obesity and disturbances of the carbohydrate metabolism had a negative impact on visual acuity in both populations, however, the latter was a much stronger risk factor in the Roma population (OR: 5.789, 95% CI: 2.239-14.964, p<0.001) than in the general population (OR: 2.075, 95% CI: 1.097-3.926, p=0.025). Our results show serious unmet health needs within the Roma population, which calls for public health programs to improve poor primary care indicators on regular eye examination, and a much more rigorous diabetes control.

Social Impact Indicators in the Context of the Roma Community: Contributions to the Debate on Methodological Implications

Researching with methodologies focused on social impact in line with the SDGs is one of the priority orientations of the Horizon Europe program, as shown in the official European Commission document on impacts for this program. In this sense, researchers must forecast how their project will improve citizens' lives. Until now, many investigations showed the evaluation of the social impact through knowledge transfer activities that, although undoubtedly important, are not enough since the social impact is defined as the improvements derived from using the knowledge transferred to society. The search for the social impact of new research requires the introduction of impact indicators from the design, throughout the project development, and when the project ends. The introduction of indicators, in particular if they are decided in dialogue with the participants, allows not only to foresee a greater social impact but also to improve and adjust the methodology to be used. We explore this aspect in the context of research with social impact that starts from how the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing the inequalities suffered by the Roma population, causing the aggravation and creation of new problems and needs. Thus, we explain in detail how the selection of indicators that monitor the social impact, in dialogue with the Roma population, allows the design of research projects that are more appropriate to the current context.

Analysis of the Areas of Social Discrimination in the Romani de Huelva Community

Although in recent years a whole series of measures and programmes have been carried out with the aim of having an impact on the situations of discrimination and racism in which the Romani population is immersed, the results obtained allow us to surmise that, although there has been some progress, the situation has not entirely changed. A stereotyped view of the Romani population still exists in some parts of Spanish society, meaning that this community continues to be immersed in a profound process of social exclusion. Objectives of research are to demonstrate whether there are situations of discrimination in the Huelva Roma population, as well as to know the areas in which these acts of discrimination are carried out. A qualitative method was chosen. The technique used was an in-depth interview, to allow us to understand the perspective of the professionals who work with this group. In general, we have seen how situations of discrimination against the Romani population persist. These situations extend to different spheres of life, and whose factors respond to a multiplicity of causes. There is a need for significant, long-lasting change. This means it is necessary both to change the processes of social intervention and to involve the Romani community itself, as without their collaboration and legitimacy any intervention will lack future perspective.

Decolonising Literacy Practices for an Inclusive and Sustainable Model of Literacy Education

Despite efforts on the part of institutions, professionals and social agents, the Roma population in Europe still lacks equal access to education. Difficulties in literacy development are at the root of this: Roma learners present lower literacy rates than non-Roma learners and learners in non-segregated schools, preventing them from transitioning to secondary education. This article presents the results of ethnographic research with a group of Roma primary learners in Southern Spain. The aim was to analyse the contexts, interactional spaces, contents and practices of learners’ engagement with literacy in and outside the classroom. Data analysis was carried out using an adaptation of the continua model of biliteracy, useful for analysing literacy practices in contexts with different literacy cultures. Results show that communicative practices that challenged skills-based literacy models helped activate learners’ literacy reservoirs, enhancing their literacy engagement and allowing them to renegotiate their position as Roma learners in a non-Roma institution and as text creators in the classroom. Conclusions point to the need to decolonise classroom practice by identifying learners’ literacy reservoirs and ways to activate these, contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable model of literacy education consistent with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal for quality education.

Scripts in Rural Élites’ Attitude as Narrative Barriers in the Hungarian–Roma Interethnic Relations in Szeklerland (Romania)

Relying on an interview-based research conducted in Romania’s Szeklerland area, in settlements with a significant Roma population where the majority of the inhabitants are of Hungarian ethnicity, the present study investigates the non-Roma rural élites’ attitude towards the local Roma population. The regional relevance of the topic is indicated by the fact that the importance of the Roma population’s social integration is present in social publicity, while at the same time the three decades following the 1989 socio-political turn in Romania witnessed only a few attempts at the planning and launching of programmes aimed at the Roma population’s social integration. In the course of the past three decades, the regional institutions and élites have repeatedly shuffled off the professional thematization and practical addressing of this issue, whereas in principle they emphasized the importance of social integration. This study aims to explore some of the components making up the background of the above-outlined ambivalent attitude. With the script analysis method, we intend to look into what scripts rural elite actors adopt in building the narratives on the Hungarian–Roma attitude and what role this narrative creation has in the case of the élite belonging to the Hungarian ethnic majority.

Traditional Romani Christianity vs Pentecostal and neo-Protestant Christianity: A grounded picture of religiosity and spirituality among the Roma in the twenty-first century in Slovakia

Through the example of specific locations settled by the Roma population in Slovakia, the study offers a grounded picture of Romani religiosity and spirituality in the twenty-first century. The author provides a brief overview of the analytical grasping of this phenomenon in the scientific community, as well as remarks on the seemingly neutral analytical terms used for the description of religiosity and spirituality among the Roma, which may contain clichés or be eventually culturally and intellectually colonialist. Based on multi-sited ethnographies in Slovakia, the author elucidates how traditional Romani Christianity is confronted with Pentecostal and neo-Protestant Christianity, which are considered non-traditional within the traditionally Roman Catholic Slovakia. To avoid scientific exotization of Romani religious culture, the author describes the main elements of traditional Romani Christianity based on the emic insights of non-Pentecostal Roma from various localities and through the lenses of the Pentecostal discourse (converts and pastors). She also mentions the fluid and postmodern features of Romani Christianity, which have preserved numerous traditional elements fluidly mixed with post-traditional and ultra-modern forms of spirituality and religiosity.

Specificity of Socio-Economic Processes in the Hungarian Microregion

The Kunhegyesi District is the most disadvantaged district in the Northern Great Plain Region of Hungary. The aim of this study, which serves as a basis for a social comparative analysis of the District’s settlements in the future, is to understand the demographic processes. Population in the District has been steadily decreasing since 2011 besides lower income levels, poorer health indicators and a higher proportion of premature mortality. Two out of three children are disadvantaged, while the vast majority of young people drops out of secondary school without any qualification. The higherthan-average proportion of Roma population alone does not explain worsening economic output, economic performance has nothing to do with ethnic origin. Reasons are rather to be found in the deterioration of social mobility of the past two decades. Similarly to areas with a higher proportion of Roma population, the District also undergoes an exodus of nonRoma, resulting in ghettoization, thereby further diminishing chances of social mobility. Thanks to social inclusion and recovery programs, as well as the commitment of local Roma stakeholders, promising changes are coming true with an increase in qualification and employment levels and a decrease in the number of disadvantaged children, question is whether development is sustainable in the long run, and also, whether the District has a potential to independently selfsustain social development.

Renal Hypouricemia 1: Rare Disorder as Common Disease in Eastern Slovakia Roma Population

Renal hypouricemia (RHUC) is caused by an inherited defect in the main reabsorption system of uric acid, SLC22A12 (URAT1) and SLC2A9 (GLUT9). RHUC is characterized by a decreased serum uric acid concentration and an increase in its excreted fraction. Patients suffer from hypouricemia, hyperuricosuria, urolithiasis, and even acute kidney injury. We report clinical, biochemical, and genetic findings in a cohort recruited from the Košice region of Slovakia consisting of 27 subjects with hypouricemia and relatives from 11 families, 10 of whom were of Roma ethnicity. We amplified, directly sequenced, and analyzed all coding regions and exon–intron boundaries of the SLC22A12 and SLC2A9 genes. Sequence analysis identified dysfunctional variants c.1245_1253del and c.1400C>T in the SLC22A12 gene, but no other causal allelic variants were found. One heterozygote and one homozygote for c.1245_1253del, nine heterozygotes and one homozygote for c.1400C>T, and two compound heterozygotes for c.1400C>T and c.1245_1253del were found in a total of 14 subjects. Our result confirms the prevalence of dysfunctional URAT1 variants in Roma subjects based on analyses in Slovak, Czech, and Spanish cohorts, and for the first time in a Macedonian Roma cohort. Although RHUC1 is a rare inherited disease, the frequency of URAT1-associated variants indicates that this disease is underdiagnosed. Our findings illustrate that there are common dysfunctional URAT1 allelic variants in the general Roma population that should be routinely considered in clinical practice as part of the diagnosis of Roma patients with hypouricemia and hyperuricosuria exhibiting clinical signs such as urolithiasis, nephrolithiasis, and acute kidney injury.

CVD Risk Factors in the Ukrainian Roma and Meta-Analysis of Their Prevalence in Roma Populations Worldwide

The Roma population suffers from severe poverty, social exclusion, and some of the worst health conditions in the industrialized world. Herein, we report on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in the Ukrainian Roma and present a meta-analysis of the prevalence of CVD risk factors in 16 Roma populations worldwide. The meta-analyses of CVD risk factors in Roma (n = 16,552) vs. non-Roma majority population of the same country (n = 127,874) included publicly available data. Ukrainian field survey included 339 adults of both sexes and outcomes of interest were hypertension, body mass index (BMI), smoking, education, and employment status. Furthermore, 35.7% of the Ukrainian Roma were hypertensive, 69.3% unemployed, and 48.4% never went to school. Ukrainian Roma women were more likely to be underweight and more prone to be hypertensive, with odds of hypertension increasing with age, BMI, and positive smoking status. Meta-analyses showed that, in comparison with non-Roma worldwide, the Roma bear significantly higher risk factor loads related to smoking (OR = 2.850), diabetes (OR = 1.433), abdominal obesity (OR = 1.276), and metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.975), with lower loads for hypertension (OR = 0.607) and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (OR = 0.872). To conclude, the CVD risk factors which are more common in Roma than in the majority population may reflect their poor health-related behaviors and inadequate access to health education.

Roma népesség és oktatástervezés

Összefoglaló. A tanulmány népszámlálási és kutatási adatok segítségével a roma tanulókkal kapcsolatos oktatási kérdések értelmezésére, az esetleges oktatáspolitikai beavatkozások megalapozására tesz kísérletet. A szerző azt állítja, a romának gondolt tanulók jelenléte önmagában nem kellene semmilyen nyelvi-etnikai kihívást jelentsen, hiszen az esetek zömében – a népszámlálási adatok tanúsága szerint – szintén magyar anyanyelvű népességről van szó. Az igazi kihívást a roma populáció társadalmi szerkezetben elfoglalt helye jelenti: mivel az alsóbb társadalmi rétegekbe, gyakran társadalmon kívüli élethelyzetekbe szorulva élnek, ez visszahat az iskolai eredményességükre, illetve társadalmi integrációjukra is. Summary. Based on census and research data the study tries to analyse the educational situation of Roma students, and it intends to describe some educational policy interventions. According to the author the school presence of the Roma students is not an ethnic or linguistique question as Hungarian language is their mother tongue. The real challenge is the social situation of the Roma population: as they live in lower social strata, often in underclass situation, this has an impact on their school performance, and finally on their social integration.