Recent European Union expansion has permitted new, but complex, health interactions for migrants. This study examined perceived changes in health and interactions with the British National Health Service among new Polish migrants. In a mixed methods sequential study, questionnaires were administered at Time 1 (n = 418), Time 2 (n = 222), and Time 3 (n = 214). Thirty respondents participated in interviews 6 months after arrival; 25 of these were interviewed 1 year later. Age, psychological and cognitive resources, social support, discrimination, and economic status predicted perceived health changes. Interviews revealed cultural differences in treatment procedures and the role of social networks in health service expectations.The health of migrants has emerged as a major topic for epidemiological research, but previous work has rarely considered the wider sociocultural context that informs migrant's health perceptions. In particular, little research has examined the health status of migrants who engage in circular patterns of migration between developed countries. Such movement between nations is likely to inform attitudes toward, and uptake of, medical services in the new culture, permitting new and significant interactions in health care seeking between the receiving and sending nation. Moreover, epidemiological studies have been largely limited to quantitative approaches that may not capture experiences and expectations of individual patients and how those experiences are intertwined with patients' cultural background.The populations of postcommunist Europe have faced a number of serious economic and social challenges over the past two decades. The expansion of the European Union (EU) eastward in 2004, however, offered an opportunity for the large-scale movement of migrants westward; this led to the largest and most rapid migrant movement to the United Kingdom in recent history. Between May 2004 and September 2009, an estimated 1.6 million workers from the EU came to the United Kingdom, of which approximately two thirds were Poles (Equality and

The article discusses what happens when a 'critical event' exposes a migrant population to public view, leading them to reflect on their multiple identities and loyalties. Its focus is on 21 st century Europe, where societies spread across international borders, offering opportunities for individuals to identify with two or more, and attempt to integrate sufficiently for their own purposes within each. Our case study is British-born Poles; the critical events are the post-2004 wave of Polish migration and the 2016 Brexit referendum. Based on interviews with 28 British-born individuals who felt they had emerged from 'invisibility' and become increasingly Polish, we seek to explain their integration trajectories into new Polish society in the UK and society in Poland. These integration experiences are shaped by the complex intersection of generation, wave, community, and historical and geographical setting. Existing research tends to focus on tensions between the post-1945 and post-2004 waves. We show how tensions can oocur. However, we also point to instances of successful integration, where British-born Poles update their linguistic and cultural knowledge, form social relations with the new arrivals and, perhaps most importantly, experience life in Poland more intensely than was possible before 2004.

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