Increasing employment opportunities for segregated Roma might prevent major economic losses and improve their health. Involvement of the private sector in Roma employment, on top of intensified governmental actions, is likely to be a key to sustainable improvement, but evidence on this is scarce. Our aim was to determine the potential outcomes of such a partnership regarding increased employability and the resulting improved well-being and health. We therefore investigated a Roma employment project called Equality of Opportunity, run since 2002 by a private company, U.S. Steel Kosice, in eastern Slovakia. We conducted a multi-perspective qualitative study to obtain the perspectives of key stakeholders on the outcomes of this project. We found that they expected the employability of segregated Roma to increase in particular via improvements in their work ethic and working habits, education, skills acquisition, self-confidence, courage and social inclusion. They further expected as the main health effects of increased employability an improvement in Roma well-being and health via a stable income, better housing, crime reduction, improved hygienic standards, access to prevention and improved mental resilience. Social policies regarding segregated Roma could thus be best directed at increasing employment and at these topics in particular to increase their effects on Roma health.

Department of Community and Occupational Medicine University Medical Center Groningen University of Groningen Antonius Deusinglaan 1 9713 AV Groningen The Netherlands

Department of Health Psychology Medical Faculty P J Safarik University in Kosice Trieda SNP 1 040 11 Kosice Slovakia Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health P J Safarik University in Kosice Trieda SNP 1 040 11 Kosice Slovakia Olomouc University Society and Health Institute Palacky University in Olomouc Univerzitni 22 771 11 Olomouc Czech Republic

Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health P J Safarik University in Kosice Trieda SNP 1 040 11 Kosice Slovakia Olomouc University Society and Health Institute Palacky University in Olomouc Univerzitni 22 771 11 Olomouc Czech Republic Department of Community and Occupational Medicine University Medical Center Groningen University of Groningen Antonius Deusinglaan 1 9713 AV Groningen The Netherlands

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