Widening the Frame in Healthcare: Centering the Voices of Refugee and Newcomer Communities

Abstract

The purpose of this research project is to explore the immigrant and refugee health experience with the healthcare system and their expectations with health professionals through a community-engaged research (CER) approach. The study looks into possible pathways of addressing the immigrant and refugee population's health needs by better aligning the expectations with future health providers' education and training opportunities. The community partners, including SFU Radius, SFU TD Community Engagement Centre, and SFU World University Service of Canada (WUSC), were contacted for participant recruitment. Participants were born outside of Canada, have lived in Canada for at least a year, are able to converse in English and, at least 18 years of age. Data was primarily collected through focus groups and interviews. Participants were asked if they would like to become community member research partners to review the final report and input their thoughts and comments. The findings illustrate that immigrants and refugees experience a lack of health-related information when immigrating to Canada, they face cultural, language and communication barriers with their healthcare providers. The participants provided valuable insights on competencies future healthcare providers should have when working with immigrants and refugees through their educational years. Overall, recommendations were made on how and what prospective health sciences students should learn as they are the next generation of healthcare providers and public health professionals working with newcomers and refugees.

Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Kate Tairyan, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University