Patterns of Health Services Utilization by Recent Immigrants

Abstract

This study was undertaken to analyze how the way young, recently immigrated, families utilize health services evolves over time. Twenty families participated in the study. They all included at least one child of preschool age, had immigrated less than 8 years previously, and had used primary healthcare services since their arrival. A triphasic pattern of utilization was observed, consisting of contact with one or more health services, selection of specific services from those available, and consolidation of choices. Families relied upon a variety of information sources in each of these phases. The primary attributes upon which the families based their evaluation, selection, and adoption of health services were geographical and temporal accessibility, interpersonal and technical quality of services, and language spoken by health professionals and staff. Perception of health services' attributes is influenced by the families' sociocultural referents and preemigration experience. Results indicate that utilization of primary healthcare services progressively changes over time, evolving from the ad hoc use of walk-in services to the adoption of regular sources of care.

Influence of Maternal Birthplace on Postpartum Health and Health Services Use

“…Given that Chinese women represented a third of our sample of immigrant women, the former may reflect the availability of Chinese-speaking obstetrician/gynecologists available in the metropolitan area. Newly arrived immigrants have been found to be more likely to use walk-in clinics and emergency room visits early post-arrival and regular care providers later in their stay [24]. Our study, however, did not show statistically significant differences between immigrant and Canadian-born women in terms of their postpartum use of walk-in clinics, emergency departments, family doctors, or public health services.…”

Immigrant women’s perceptions and experiences of health care services: Insights from a focus group study

“…The different opinions on this issue may be partly due to the fact that among the sample, African participants reported higher length of stay in Portugal than Brazilian women. The length of stay has been positively associated with integration in the host country and specifically with knowledge on the health system and utilization of the health services (Dias et al 2008;Leduc and Proulx 2004). Therefore, it is possible to speculate that in our sample African participants are better informed about the health system and their rights in access to health care services (access to health care is guaranteed in Portugal).…”

Health policies for migrant populations in three European countries: England; Italy and Spain

“…Spain give emphasis to providing information about the functioning and access to the system, which seems to be appropriate because the lack of knowledge about the system generates access problems and an inadequate use of services, above all when immigrants only reside for a short period in the receiving country [67].…”