Immigrant status and unmet health care needs in British Columbia

Our supplementary examinations include a description of the specific reasons for unmet needs among immigrants and non-immigrants; a breakdown of unmet needs by health region; an examination of the relationship between length of residence in Canada and unmet needs among immigrants; a description of the types of care needed but not received; and a comparison of BC immigrants to those in Atlantic Can [...] The province contains the second highest proportion of immigrants in the country and accounts for approximately 19 percent of the national immigrant population. [...] Furthermore, diversity in help-seeking behaviour between social groups can obtain because of differences in perceptions of health and illness, awareness of health risks, and attitudes toward the benefits of medical treatment. [...] The increase of chronic conditions, a growing awareness of Canadian concepts of health and illness, and adaptation to Canadian habits, among other things, may increase the risk of unmet needs within the immigrant population over time. [...] We use dummy indicators to group the immigrant population into five taxonomic categories based on race/ethnicity: 26.4 percent of immigrants and 1.8 percent of non-immigrants report Chinese racial/ethnic origins; 9.3 percent of immigrants and 1.5 percent of non-immigrants report Southeast Asian racial/ethnic origins; 12.1 percent of immigrants and 1 percent of non-immigrants report South Asian rac