Journal of Aging Research
Volume 2015, 2015

Health status and health determinants of older immigrant women in Canada: A scoping review (Review) (Open Access)

Guruge S.* , Birpreet B. , Samuels-Dennis J.A.
  • a School of Nursing, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
  • b School of Nursing, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
  • c School of Health Science, Humber College ITAL, 205 Humber College Boulevard, Toronto, ON M9W 5L7, Canada

Abstract

Increasing international migration in the context of aging populations makes a comprehensive understanding of older immigrant women's health status and determinants of their health particularly urgent. Using Arksey and O'Malley's framework, we conducted a scoping review to examine the available literature on the health of older immigrant women in Canada. We searched CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane databases for the period of 1990 to 2014 for Canadian-based, peer-reviewed studies on the topic. A total of 20 articles met the inclusion criteria. These articles were divided into six areas of focus: physical health; mental health; abuse; health promotion and chronic disease prevention; barriers to healthcare access and utilization; and health beliefs, behaviours, and practices. Our results show that the health of older immigrant women is affected by the interplay of various social determinants of health including the physical and social environment; economic conditions; cultural beliefs; gendered norms; and the healthcare delivery system. Our results also revealed that older immigrant women tend to have more health problems, underutilize preventive services, such as cancer screening, and experience more difficulties in accessing healthcare services. © 2015 Sepali Guruge et al.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

abuse immigrant health promotion mental health human Health Behavior health belief economic aspect social determinants of health priority journal health status peer review cancer screening chronic disease Canada preventive health service Review cultural factor women's health health care utilization Social Environment health care access integrated health care system

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84939202193&doi=10.1155%2f2015%2f393761&partnerID=40&md5=d6875d579af1001f38051763bd7f48f5

DOI: 10.1155/2015/393761
ISSN: 20902204
Cited by: 9
Original Language: English