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Immigration, barriers to healthcare and transnational ties: A case study of South Korean immigrants in Toronto, Canada

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  • Wang, Lu
  • Kwak, Min-Jung

Abstract

The paper analyzes the healthcare-seeking behavior of South Korean immigrants in Toronto, Canada, and how transnationalism shapes post-migration health and health-management strategies. Built upon largely separate research areas in ethnicity and health, health geography, and transnationalism, the paper conceptualizes immigrant health as influenced by individual characteristics, the migration and resettlement experience, and place effects at both a local and a transnational scale. A mixed-method approach is used to capture insights into health status and experiences in accessing local and transnational healthcare among South Korean immigrants – a fast growing visible minority group in Canada. Statistical analysis of data from the Canadian Community Health Survey discloses patterns and trends in health and healthcare use among the Korean Canadian, overall foreign-born, and native-born populations. Focus groups reveal in-depth information on the decline of Korean immigrants' health status and the array of sociocultural, economic and geographic barriers in accessing healthcare in Canada, which gave rise to their transnational use of health resources in the home country. The transnational strategies included traveling to South Korea for medical examinations or treatment, importing medications from South Korea to Canada, and consulting health resources in South Korea by phone or email. The results provide timely knowledge on how a recent immigrant group adapts to Canada in the domain of health and adds a transnational perspective to the literature on ethnicity and health.

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  • Wang, Lu & Kwak, Min-Jung, 2015. "Immigration, barriers to healthcare and transnational ties: A case study of South Korean immigrants in Toronto, Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 340-348.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:133:y:2015:i:c:p:340-348
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.039
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Kelleher, Dan & Doherty, Edel & O'Neill, Ciaran, 2022. "Examining the transnational preventive healthcare utilisation of a group of Eastern European migrants living full-time in another European state," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(4), pages 318-324.
    3. Jang, Sou Hyun, 2016. "First-generation Korean immigrants’ barriers to healthcare and their coping strategies in the US," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 93-100.
    4. Villa-Torres, Laura & González-Vázquez, Tonatiuh & Fleming, Paul J. & González-González, Edgar Leonel & Infante-Xibille, César & Chavez, Rebecca & Barrington, Clare, 2017. "Transnationalism and health: A systematic literature review on the use of transnationalism in the study of the health practices and behaviors of migrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 70-79.
    5. Bishnu Bahadur Bajgain & Kalpana Thapa Bajgain & Sujan Badal & Fariba Aghajafari & Jeanette Jackson & Maria-Jose Santana, 2020. "Patient-Reported Experiences in Accessing Primary Healthcare among Immigrant Population in Canada: A Rapid Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-20, November.

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