Should Canada Provide Greater Support for Newcomers/Immigrants? - Articles Analysis Essay

McKeary, Marie, and Bruce, Newbold. "Barriers to Care: The Challenges for Canadian Refugees and their Health Care Providers." Journal of Refugee Studies (2010): 2-20.

The focus of this research was to illustrate the challenges facing refugees in Canada. Additionally, the publication stated that much of the research literature published in the past has not sufficiently addressed the barriers that face Canadian immigrants in the nation while trying to access healthcare services. Research conducted by the local healthcare service providers situated at Hamilton, Ontario portrayed that six key systematic barriers affect both the Canadian refugees and healthcare workers assigned to such patients. The challenges that were outlined include language/interpretation challenges, poverty, healthcare coverage as well as isolation (McKeary and Newbold 529). The other challenges include cultural competency as well as transportation problems in regards to healthcare availability as well as accessibility of services (McKeary and Newbold 529). From the publication, I found the discussion of each challenge affecting the immigrants in Canada to be quite comprehensive. Also, McKeary and Newbold (2010) discussed each of the problems separately and supported by evidence. Additionally, the authors of the publication portrayed the impact of such challenges to the refugees in Canada and also to the healthcare system in the nation. Ultimately, the research offered the most effective strategies that can be employed to minimize or manage such challenges, in order to promote improved healthcare outcome for such Canadian refugees.

Ingar, Nafisa, Barbara Farrell, and Kevin Pottie. "Building a welcoming community." Canadian Pharmacists Journal 146.1 (2013): 21-25.

The publication was authored by Ingar, Farrell, and Pottie in 2013. Also, the primary focus of the research was to define the role of pharmacists in Canada, in improving the level of health outcomes for refugees as well as immigrants in the nation. According to the publication, most refugees who migrate to Canada have a low proficiency in English and French languages (Ingar, Farrell and Pottie 1). Additionally, most of such refugees possess no regular family physicians. Furthermore, the authors of the research stated that most refugees residing in Canada present prescriptions, medications as well as expectations that are in most cases unfamiliar with the Canadian pharmacists. Consequently, this makes it challenging for the Canadian medical practitioners to administer the right medication to ill immigrant patients. From the research, I found the recent evidence-based guidelines for immigrants living in Canada to be quite useful in defining the most effective methods that can be used for their treatment. This is amid the increasingly linguistically as well as the culturally diverse social environment in Canada. Additionally, I found the recommendation that physicians and pharmacists should use current patient approach to be quite useful. This is because it will greatly aid in improving the level of refugee patients outcome in the Canada.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Simich, Laura, et al. "Providing Social Support for Immigrants and Refugees in Canada: Challenges and Directions." Journal of Immigrant Health 7.4 (2005): 259-268.

The publication was authored by Simich, Beiser, Stewart, and Mwakarimba in 2005. It was a summary of a qualitative study that was focused on determining the challenges as well as directions that can be employed in promoting the healthcare and social support systems of Canadian refugees. Additionally, the researchers ascertained that some of the factors that hamper the issuance of quality healthcare to refugees in the nation include the existence of limited resources to provide quality services to the immigrants. Other factors include lack of integration of programs as well as policies of healthcare services in Canada with services previously used to treat immigrants before their relocation to Canada. Moreover, the research offered recommendations that can be used to improve the level of patients care delivery to the refugees that are based in Canada (Simich et al. 259). Such recommendations included the development of change in public discourse pertaining refugees contributions as well as improved governance and coordination of services. From this publication, I found out it useful that the study used the findings of a qualitative study to support its arguments. This way, it made the reasons offered as the factors contributing to the challenges in offering a Canadian refugees medical addition to be more valid and reliable. Ultimately, I found the publications issue of appropriate recommendations that can be used to eradicate the identified issues with healthcare delivery to immigrants to be important.

Outline

Since the year 2000, Canada has resettled approximately 11,000 immigrants per annum (McKeary and Newbold 524). Most of such immigrants originate from Mexico, Burma, Iran, Iraq, Haiti as well as Columbia (McKeary and Newbold 525). This proportion is approximately 15% of the total number of all foreign-born nations entering Canada every year (McKeary and Newbold 525). Additionally, due to this high number of refugees, Canada has increased its level protection towards immigrants living in the nation Kirmayer et al. (2011). Nevertheless, despite such improved protections, numerous challenges impede the Canadian practitioners from having access to healthcare services. The Canadian government should strive to provide greater healthcare support to newcomers or immigrants living in the nation by identifying the challenges limiting the provision of quality services to immigrants and addressing them.

Language is considered to be the primary factor limiting the Canadian employees from having access to quality healthcare services in the nation. McKeary and Newbold (2010), in their research, illustrated that language barrier is the fundamental challenge that limits the Canadian immigrants from having proper access to quality healthcare services in the nation. This is because the immigrants originate from different nationalities with different languages, and also most of them do not speak English or French, which are main languages spoken in Canada. As such, this becomes a critical problem for the refugees in trying to explain their conditions to the Canadian healthcare practitioners. Moreover, McKeary and Newbold (2010)s research also outlined other problems limiting the immigrants from having access to quality healthcare services to be inclusive of high levels of poverty among the immigrants and isolation.

Additionally, there is a limited healthcare coverage in the refugees concentration camps and problems associated with cultural differences of immigrants from different nations. Lastly, McKeary and Newbold (2010) explained that most immigrants in the nation experience poor transportation services when faced with health care needs and as such, their accessibility level to healthcare services in the nation is low. Also, in a different research, Ingar, Farrell, and Pottie (2013) illustrated that immigrants in Canada have low access to healthcare in the nation due to their low proficiency in English and French languages. Additionally, the refugees residing in Canada present prescriptions, medications as well as expectations that are in most cases unfamiliar with the Canadian pharmacists. Consequently, this has made it hard for such immigrants to access high-quality healthcare services in the nation.

Limited resources is also a factor affecting refugees in Canada from accessing healthcare services in the nation. According to Simich et al. (2005)s research, some of the reasons that render immigrant living in Canada unable to access high-quality services include the availability of limited resources to provide quality services to the immigrants. In this case, the rising number of refugees in the nation has continued to add the economic burden of healthcare services provision to the Canadian. Consequently, the nation has not been in a position to provide sufficient resources to cater for all the refugees living in the nation fully. Additionally, other challenges include lack of integration of programs as well as policies of healthcare services in Canada with services previously used to treat immigrants before their relocation to Canada.

In conclusion, the Canadian government should strive to provide greater healthcare support to newcomers or immigrants living in the nation. This is by identifying the challenges limiting the provision of quality services to immigrants and addressing them. From the research, some of the factors limiting the provision of quality services to the patients include language or communication problems, high levels of poverty among the immigrants and isolation. Additionally, poor transportation services to immigrants when faced with healthcare needs and availability of limited resources to provide quality services to the refugees in Canada has also hampered the refugees level of access to healthcare services. Lastly, lack of integration of programs and policies of healthcare services in Canada with services previously used to treat immigrants before their relocation also limit the access to healthcare services to refugees.

Works Cited

Ingar, Nafisa, Barbara Farrell and Kevin Pottie. "Building a welcoming community." Canadian Pharmacists Journal 146.1 (2013): 21-25.

Kirmayer L.J., Narasiah L., Munoz M., et al. Common mental health problems in immigrants and refugees: general approach in primary care. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2011;183(12): E959-E967. doi:10.1503/cmaj.090292.

McKeary, Marie, and Bruce Newbold. "Barriers to Care: The Challenges for Canadian Refugees and their Health Care Providers." Journal of Refugee Studies (2010): 2-20.

Simich, Laura, et al. "Providing Social Support for Immigrants and Refugees in Canada: Challenges and Directions." Journal of Immigrant Health 7.4 (2005): 259-268.