Health Functioning and Access to Health Services By Immigrants As New Canadians In The Mid-Sized City Of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

Canada’s international trade agreements have led to cohorts of new immigrants to settle in cities outside of established metropolitan cities (Vancouver, Toronto) in Canada. This paper presentation reports on the findings of... [ view full abstract ]

Canada’s international trade agreements have led to cohorts of new immigrants to settle in cities outside of established metropolitan cities (Vancouver, Toronto) in Canada. This paper presentation reports on the findings of immigrants’ health status and access to health services in the City of Kelowna, a midsized city in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada.

From 2012-2014, participants who self-identified as immigrants (n=314) between the ages of 17-81 completed a questionnaire on the health and well-being of immigrants in Kelowna. The questionnaires were administered via paper or electronic copy on the internet, a $15.00 honorarium was provided.

The sample consisted of 63% women, a mean age of 41.86 years (SD = 14.30), and a mean of 7 years (SD = 9.43) in Canada. For health status, 87.60% of the respondents reported good, very good, or excellent physical health. Despite the self-reported good health, the respondents often required access to health services. Those reported that they were not in good health were also more likely to report difficulties in accessing healthcare (OR=2.57, CI=1.22-5.41). Fifty percent required routine/on-going care for themselves or their family members; 26.32% of those who needed such routine/on-going care experienced difficulties in access, with long waits to get an appointment/to see the doctor as the primary reason (44.00%). Moreover, 26.20% of all respondents did not have family doctors and those who did not have access to family doctors were three times as likely to have reported that accessing routine/on-going care for themselves and their families were difficult (OR=3.19; CI=1.28-7.98). Language barriers were the most serious problem (38.06%) in accessing healthcare. The results suggest a significant percentage of immigrants with foregone health care, which have implications for their health in the future and for projected health economics for this city. These issues and their implications will be discussed.