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Unmet healthcare need, gender, and health inequalities in Canada

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  • Bryant, Toba
  • Leaver, Chad
  • Dunn, James

Abstract

Unmet healthcare need should be rare in nations with a universally accessible publicly funded healthcare system such as Canada. This however is not the case. This study examines the extent to which predictors of such need are consistent with various paradigmatic approaches (e.g., structural-critical, social capital, social support, and lifestyle) that consider such issues. Analyses of data from a probability sample of 2536 urban residents in British Columbia specified the relationship of unmet need with socioeconomic issues such as income, gender, and housing tenure, community issues such as social networks and social support, and traditional lifestyle or behavioural risk factors. The structural-critical model concerned with socio-demographics provided the most parsimonious explanation for having an unmet healthcare need. Consistent with a structural-critical approach, gender was found to be a reliable predictor of having an unmet health need in each of the models tested. Increasing federal transfers to healthcare and providing childcare and other community supports that are of special value for women may help to reduce unmet healthcare need.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryant, Toba & Leaver, Chad & Dunn, James, 2009. "Unmet healthcare need, gender, and health inequalities in Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 24-32, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:91:y:2009:i:1:p:24-32
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    2. Röttger, Julia & Blümel, Miriam & Köppen, Julia & Busse, Reinhard, 2016. "Forgone care among chronically ill patients in Germany—Results from a cross-sectional survey with 15,565 individuals," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 170-178.
    3. Damiano Fiorillo, 2020. "Reasons for unmet needs for health care: the role of social capital and social support in some western EU countries," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 79-98, March.
    4. Md Kamrul Islam & Peter Kellett, 2022. "Provincial variations in not having a regular medical doctor and having unmet healthcare needs among Canadians," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 2090-2105, July.
    5. Young Suk Yoon & Boyoung Jung & Dongsu Kim & In-Hyuk Ha, 2019. "Factors Underlying Unmet Medical Needs: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Han, Kyu-Tae & Park, Eun-Cheol & Kim, Sun Jung, 2016. "Unmet healthcare needs and community health center utilization among the low-income population based on a nationwide community health survey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(6), pages 630-637.
    7. Park, Sojung & Kim, BoRin & Kim, Soojung, 2016. "Poverty and working status in changes of unmet health care need in old age," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(6), pages 638-645.
    8. Connolly, Sheelah & Wren, Maev-Ann, 2017. "Unmet healthcare needs in Ireland: Analysis using the EU-SILC survey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(4), pages 434-441.
    9. Hana Bataineh & Rose Anne Devlin & Vicky Barham, 2019. "Unmet health care and health care utilization," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 529-542, April.
    10. Oluwakemi A. Awe & Udoka Okpalauwaekwe & Adegboyega K. Lawal & Marcus M. Ilesanmi & Cindy Feng & Marwa Farag, 2019. "Association between patient attachment to a regular doctor and self‐perceived unmet health care needs in Canada: A population‐based analysis of the 2013 to 2014 Canadian community health surveys," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 309-323, January.
    11. Carnazza, Giovanni & Liberati, Paolo & Resce, Giuliano, 2023. "Income-related unmet needs in the European countries," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    12. M Eugenia Socías & Jean Shoveller & Chili Bean & Paul Nguyen & Julio Montaner & Kate Shannon, 2016. "Universal Coverage without Universal Access: Institutional Barriers to Health Care among Women Sex Workers in Vancouver, Canada," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-15, May.
    13. Ko, Hansoo, 2016. "Unmet healthcare needs and health status: Panel evidence from Korea," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(6), pages 646-653.
    14. Philip Baiden & Wendy Dunnen & Barbara Fallon, 2017. "Examining the Independent Effect of Social Support on Unmet Mental Healthcare Needs Among Canadians: Findings from a Population-Based Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 1229-1246, February.
    15. Duignan, Luke & Dutton, Daniel J., 2024. "The association between allostatic load and guaranteed annual income using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging: A cross-sectional analysis of the benefits of guaranteed public pensions," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).

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