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Health Status of Older Immigrants to Canada*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

K. Bruce Newbold  and
John K. Filice
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Abstract

Using the 2000/2001 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), this paper examines the health status of the older (aged 55+) immigrant population relative to that of non-immigrants in order to identify areas where their health statuses diverge. First, we compare the health status of older immigrants (foreign-born) aged 55 and over in Canada to the Canadian-born in terms of age and gender using multiple measures of health status including self-assessed health. Second, we identify the factors associated with health status using the determinants of health framework. In both cases, the key questions are whether differences in health status exist and whether they are explained primarily by socio-economic, socio-demographic, or lifestyle factors that may point to problems with the Canadian health care system. Findings indicate that there is a relative comparability in the health status of older immigrants, even after controlling for age.

Résumé

En utilisant l'enquête 2000–2001 canadien de santé de la Communauté (CCHS), cet article examine l'état de santé (55+ âgé) de la population immigrée plus àgée relativement à celui des non-immigrés afin d'identifier des secteurs où leurs états de santé divergent. D'abord, nous comparons l'état de santé des immigrés plus âgés 55 âgés (nés à l'étranger) et de l'excédent au Canada au Canadiende de naissance en termes d'âge et genre, en utilisant des mesures multiples d'état de santé comprenant la santé auto-évaluée. En second lieu, nous identifions les facteurs liés à l'état de santé en utilisant les causes déterminantes du cadre de santé. Dans les deux cas, les questions principales sont si les différences dans l'état de santé existent, et si elles sont expliquées principalement par de facteurs socio-économique, socio-demographique styles de vie, qui peuvent être accordés à des problèmes à même le système canadien de santé. Les résultats indiquent qu'il y a une comparabilité relative dans l'état de santé des immigrés plus âgés, même après le contrôle pour l'âge.

Keywords

agingimmigrantsaginghealthCanadavieillissementimmigrantsvieillissementsantéCanada
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , Fall/Automne 2006 , pp. 305 - 319
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2006

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Footnotes

*

Research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), #88682. The author also acknowledges the valuable comments made by the reviewers and editor.

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