Immigrant child health in Canada: a scoping review

Abstract

IntroductionUnderstanding the health of immigrant children from birth to 18 years of age is important given the significance of the early childhood years and complexity of factors that may influence the health status of immigrant populations. Thus, the purpose of this review was to understand the extent and nature of the literature on the health of immigrant children in Canada.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review of the literature. The review was focused on studies of first-generation and second-generation immigrant children aged 0–18 years. We completed standardised data extraction of immigration status, immigration route, age of children, data source, health or clinical focus, country of origin and major findings.ResultsIn total, 250 published papers representing data from 237 studies met the inclusion criteria for this study. A total of 178 articles used quantitative methodologies (mostly survey and cross-sectional study designs), 54 used qualitative methodologies and 18 used mixed methodologies. The articles considered in this review included 147 (59%) focusing on physical health, 76 (30%) focusing on mental health and 37 (15%) focusing on the social aspects of health for refugee and first-generation and second-generation immigrant children across the provinces and territories of Canada.ConclusionsSeveral literature gaps exist with respect to child immigrant health in Canada. For instance, there are no exclusive studies on immigrant boys and limited studies on children of international students.

Health Care Use and Barriers to Care for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases (CID) among First and Second Generation South Asian Immigrant Children and Parents in Ontario Canada

“…Healthcare access and utilization disparities are known to exist among immigrant populations in the Global North [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. In the Canadian context, studies consistently demonstrate immigrants experience barriers to access health care related to long wait times, inconvenient hours of service provision, and financial concerns [ 5 ].…”

“…At the same time, immigrants’ experience barriers unique to their immigrant identity such as linguistic barriers, health system discrimination along with cultural variations that compound access challenges and experiences [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. This means that immigrants seeking care often face complex challenges that may not be adequately addressed by targeting barriers pertaining to the general population [ 1 , 11 ].…”

“…On top of differential epidemiology and risk factors are the uneven access to resources and health care services that shape the realities of CID progression and management. Although immigrants in Canada experience poorer health outcomes than non-immigrants [ 1 , 12 ], research consistently demonstrates that immigrants are more likely to have difficulties accessing health care services [ 1 , 31 , 32 ]. While the literature on access to care for chronic and complex diseases is sparce, though growing, recent studies highlight continued and signifigant disparities in access to care and health outcomes [ 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

“…While the literature exploring immigrant children’s health care access is sparce, the studies that have been done suggest similar systemic barriers related to language, culture, finances, and relationships with health professionals [ 1 , 31 , 41 , 42 ]. Despite this growing attention, there are “still gaps in our knowledge of the health of immigrant children in Canada and this population still experiences challenges with healthcare access and disparate health outcomes across various measures” [ 1 , 7 ].…”

“…While the literature exploring immigrant children’s health care access is sparce, the studies that have been done suggest similar systemic barriers related to language, culture, finances, and relationships with health professionals [ 1 , 31 , 41 , 42 ]. Despite this growing attention, there are “still gaps in our knowledge of the health of immigrant children in Canada and this population still experiences challenges with healthcare access and disparate health outcomes across various measures” [ 1 , 7 ]. Much of the work that has been done provide commentaries on the state of immigrant children health care or explores issues of dental care among immigrant children in Western Canada [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ], with limited attention to access to primary healthcare, specialist care, or health promotion [ 31 ], particularly as it relates to complex and chronic diseases [ 46 ].…”