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"My health has improved because I always have everything I need here...": A qualitative exploration of health improvement and decline among immigrants

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  • Dean, Jennifer Asanin
  • Wilson, Kathi

Abstract

Immigrants in Canada constitute approximately 20% of the total population and will continue to account for a significant portion of the country's population in the future. Accordingly, a growing body of research has focused on examining the disparity in health status between the increasing foreign-born and the Canadian-born populations. The healthy immigrant effect, in particular, acknowledges that immigrants have better health status than their Canadian-born counterparts upon arrival in the country. However, studies have shown that over time the health of immigrants declines to a level on par with the Canadian-born population. There is much speculation as to the reasons for this decline including acculturation (i.e., uptake of unhealthy lifestyles) and a lack of access to health care. Yet, there have been few studies to examine possible reasons for potential declines in health, especially from the perspective of immigrants themselves. This study is one of the first to qualitatively examine perceived changes in health status and reasons for health status change among immigrants. The paper presents the results of 23 in-depth interviews with adults with recent (less than 3 years of residency), mid-term (3-10 years), and long-term (more than 10 years) immigrants living in the Greater Toronto Area. The results reveal that the majority of the participants believed their health had remained stable or even improved over time due to improved living standards and lifestyle behaviours in Canada. Those who perceived their health to have worsened over time attributed the change to the stress associated with migration, and the aging process rather than the adoption of an unhealthy lifestyle. Additionally, while the vast majority of participants reported improved access to resources upon migration, there were mixed reviews in terms of how beneficial these resources were or could be for health. The findings highlight the need for research to incorporate mental health into studies on changing immigrant health status and to focus on those factors contributing to high levels of stress among more recent immigrants.

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  • Dean, Jennifer Asanin & Wilson, Kathi, 2010. ""My health has improved because I always have everything I need here...": A qualitative exploration of health improvement and decline among immigrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1219-1228, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:70:y:2010:i:8:p:1219-1228
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    2. Merryn Maynard & Jennifer Dean & Paulina I. Rodriguez & Gobika Sriranganathan & Mona Qutub & Sharon I. Kirkpatrick, 2019. "The Experience of Food Insecurity Among Immigrants: a Scoping Review," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 375-417, May.
    3. Edge, Sara & Newbold, K. Bruce & McKeary, Marie, 2014. "Exploring socio-cultural factors that mediate, facilitate, & constrain the health and empowerment of refugee youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 34-41.
    4. Lum, Irene D. & Swartz, Rebecca H. & Kwan, Matthew Y.W., 2016. "Accessibility and use of primary healthcare for immigrants living in the Niagara Region," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 73-79.
    5. Lorenzo Tarsitani & Massimo Pasquini & Annalisa Maraone & Maria Paola Zerella & Isabella Berardelli & Roberta Giordani & Gian Marco Polselli & Massimo Biondi, 2013. "Acute psychiatric treatment and the use of physical restraint in first-generation immigrants in Italy: A prospective concurrent study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 59(6), pages 613-618, September.

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