Newcomer challenges with accessing healthcare services in Saskatchewan, Canada

Ginny Lane, Mayari Hengstermann, Judy White and Hassan Vatanparast
Additional contact information
Ginny Lane: University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Mayari Hengstermann: Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Judy White: University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Hassan Vatanparast: University of Saskatchewan, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Border Crossing, 2021, vol. 11, issue 2, 155-172

Abstract: Newcomers experience a variety of barriers to healthcare services. The study objective is to identify newcomers’ healthcare barriers. During 2014-2015, we conducted in-depth interviews with service providers, and newcomer parents who had been in Saskatchewan for under 5 years. Primary themes include: 1) navigation difficulty, 2) limited awareness, 3) language, 4) interpretation and translation, 5) health benefits, 6) service limitations and stigma, 7) gender and cultural concerns, 8) health attitudes and beliefs, and 9) work demands. The results exposed service gaps and suggest options to improve access to healthcare. Consideration should be given to the development of formal processes to ensure the provision of information concerning healthcare and health benefit programs, as well as responsive healthcare services, including convenient primary healthcare sites that offer comprehensive care in a culturally responsive manner with embedded interpretation services to ensure that the Saskatchewan healthcare system does not perpetuate or create health disparities.

Keywords: Immigrant; refugee; healthcare access; cultural competency; healthcare barriers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://bordercrossing.uk/bc/article/view/1222/1458 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mig:bcwpap:v:11:y:2021:i:2:p:155-172

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://bordercrossi ... ormation/librarians/

DOI: 10.33182/bc.v11i2.1222

Access Statistics for this article

Border Crossing is currently edited by Prof Ibrahim Sirkeci and Dr. Dilara Seker

More articles in Border Crossing from Transnational Press London, UK
Bibliographic data for series maintained by TPLondon ().