Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 21, Issue 6, 2019, Pages 1306-1312

Unmet Health Care Needs for Syrian Refugees in Canada: A Follow-up Study (Article)

Tuck A.* , Oda A. , Hynie M. , Bennett-AbuAyyash C. , Roche B. , Agic B. , McKenzie K.
  • a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 2017-33 Russell St, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • b Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 2017-33 Russell St, Toronto, ON, Canada, Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • c Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • d Dala Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • e Wellesley Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • f Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 2017-33 Russell St, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • g Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 2017-33 Russell St, Toronto, ON, Canada, Wellesley Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

Abstract

Unmet health care needs are under explored among refugees. Previously we found unmet health care needs in Syrian refugees may be higher than in the general Canadian population (Oda et al. CMAJ Open 5(2):E354–E358, 2017; Oda et al. J Immigr Minor Health, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0780-z). This follow-up study with Syrian refugees who entered Canada between July 2015 and July 2016 aimed to understand if there are changes in unmet health care needs 6 months to a year after baseline collection. The number reporting unmet needs was high (42.6%). Although some refugees had their needs met, unmet health needs persist, and it seems that they are linked with sponsorship pathway and post-migration socio-economic position. While caution should be used generalizing these results, they do suggest that greater coordination between services may be needed as many of the refugees report unmet needs within months of arriving and continue to report needs after being here for a period up to 2 years. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

Privately-sponsored (PSRs) longitudinal Syrian refugees Unmet health care need Government-assisted (GARs)

Index Keywords

coordination Canada government health care need refugee Canadian Article follow up human
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85059742276&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-019-00856-y&partnerID=40&md5=a403c4e4950044a9b0a658e81fbd5a0c
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-019-00856-y
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 1
Original Language: English