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Inequities in visible minority Immigrant Women's Healthcare accessibility

Swarna Weerasinghe (Based in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada)

Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care

ISSN: 1757-0980

Article publication date: 23 March 2012

1272

Abstract

Purpose

In this article visible minority immigrant women's encounters and perceptions in accessing healthcare in Canada are explored. The aim is to understand the role play of the vulnerability statuses, gender, visibility, immigration and their intersectionality as factors contributing to (in)equitiesin healthcare accessibility.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative data were collected from a sample of 32 adult immigrant women, living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, using five focus group meetings. The participants have migrated from five regions of the world; South‐Eastern Asia, Middle‐Eastern Asia, the African continent, Latin/South America and non‐English speaking countries in Eastern Europe. Data were analysed using an inductive coding using the cultural health capital framework.

Findings

The findings reveal that audio and visual personal attributes such as skin colour, accent and excess body weight that are beyond Canadian norms lead to unfavourable interpersonal dynamics. Fundamental causes of diseases and clinical discourses are embedded in ethno‐cultural realties of gender, ethno‐racial identity, English communication styles and immigration related economic downturns.

Research limitations/implications

Individual level recommendations include self efficacy and empowerment. Policies and program level recommendations include enhancement of multicultural realms of healthcare to promote equity in healthcare accessibility.

Originality/value

Utilization of cultural health capital framework to illustrate inequities in healthcare accessibility, for visible and audible minority immigrant women, living in a country with universal healthcare coverage, brings a novel conceptual approach. New policy implications stemmed from the original research findings. Canadian cultural health capital framework that was developed in this article can be applied to illustrate other minorities' healthcare accessibility.

Keywords

Citation

Weerasinghe, S. (2012), "Inequities in visible minority Immigrant Women's Healthcare accessibility", Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 18-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/17570981211286750

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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