Physical and Psychological Well-Being among Immigrant Referrals to Colonoscopy

This chapter discusses consecutive referrals to the Gastrointestinal Institute of the Soroka Medical Centre for colonoscopy during the summer of 1993 and the fall of 1994. It suggests that the first three years after migration are associated with inferior physical and psychological well-being, and, to a lesser degree, with poorer family functioning and limited social interactions. The chapter deals with the State of Israel, which was founded to establish "a home for the Jewish People." It explores the relationship between immigration status and physical morbidity, psychological and social well-being under this unique immigration regulations and absorption policy. Immigration is a major life event, which requires adaptation to a new ecological and social environment. Looking at immigration within the framework of the life events approach, will lead to the prediction that immigration is associated with increased incidence of acute conditions and poorer mental health.