[Spontaneous and organized support among Italian women and men in the city of Zurich].

Subject of this article is the empirical base, the goal, origin and founding of the "Agenzia isa (informazioni, scambi e aiuto nel vicinato)". The "Agenzia isa" is a small agency promoting and mediating mutual voluntary neighbourhood help among Italian immigrants in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. The agency started its services in June 1993. Improving social support among the Italian immigrants is considered to be preventive health care to promote health (especially in the realm of stress-provoked illness). The founding and development of the agency are followed up documented and evaluated. The problem of segregation was an important theoretical starting point for the project. A third way between the classical concepts (assimilation/integration and remigration) was conceptualised for the Italian immigrants. This third way aims at establishing a link between the agency and the Swiss medical and social care system. An important idea for this innovative project was that people living in the context of emigration possible need new types of structures for help. This idea is based on the experience that often traditional structures from the home context of the immigrants are longer sufficient and Swiss structures are not utilised possible because they are considered too foreign. The situation of social support and help needed by Italian immigrants is discussed on the basis of empirical results of a survey in one district of the city of Zürich. The realisation of the "Agenzia isa" is then described.