Service Delivery on Rusty Health Care Wheels: Implications for Visible Minority Women

Abstract

The primary purpose of this article is to demonstrate how immigrant/refugee women's access to health services is influenced by both immigration and health policies. The author argues that the wheel of health care must revolve along with the wheel of immigration. The application of health immigration policies that existed preconfederation, as well as health care interventions based on Eurocentric principles, limit minority women's accessibility to health services. An integrated dialogue between all levels of government, health care professionals, policy makers, researchers, and immigrant groups is critical to provide equitable access to health care to foster immigrant settlement in Canada's smaller communities and rural areas.

Keywords:

• Immigrant
• visible minority
• immigration
• health care
• rural

Notes

1. Visible minority is defined under the Employment Equity Act, as “persons, other than Aboriginal persons, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in color” (Statistics Canada, 2008, p. 53).

2. The United Nations defines refugees as persons who “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” (as cited in Boyd & Vickers, 2000, p. 3).

3. Newcomers in the study are defined as those who migrated to Canada within the last 5 years of the study and were residing in Grand Erie.