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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1405851

"When in Rome…": Structural determinants impacting healthcare access, health outcomes, and well-being of South Asian Older Adults in Ontario using a multilingual qualitative approach

Provisionally accepted
Diya Chowdhury Diya Chowdhury 1*Catherine Tong Catherine Tong 2Kimberly Lopez Kimberly Lopez 1Elena Neiterman Elena Neiterman 1Paul Stolee Paul Stolee 1
  • 1 University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
  • 2 Research Institute of Aging, Waterloo, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    With the increase in international migration, the need for an equitable healthcare system in Canada is increasing. The current biomedical model of healthcare is constructed largely in the Eurocentric tradition of medicine, which often disregards the diverse health perspectives of Canada's racialized immigrant older adults. As a result, current healthcare approaches (adopted in the US and Canada) fall short in addressing the health needs of a considerable segment of the population, impeding their ability to access healthcare services. This study aimed to identify and understand the structural and systemic factors that influence healthcare experiences and wellbeing among South Asian older adults in Ontario, addressing a significant gap in empirical and theoretical knowledge in the Canadian context. We conducted in-depth individual and dyadic interviews (n=28) utilizing a descriptive multilingual cross-cultural qualitative approach.Through this research, participants expressed that their understanding of well-being does not align with that of their healthcare providers, resulting in unmet health needs. Our study uses an intersectional lens to demonstrate participants' perceptions of virtual access to care and systemic factors, such as mandatory assimilation and whiteness as a taken-for-granted norm impacting the health and well-being of South Asian older adults. The findings of this research can offer valuable insights to healthcare providers and policymakers in developing culturally competent practices, guidelines, and training policies that effectively address the healthcare needs of the South Asian population in Canada.

    Keywords: Healthcare system, Structural determinants, access to care, Cultural competence, Intersectionality

    Received: 24 Mar 2024; Accepted: 06 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chowdhury, Tong, Lopez, Neiterman and Stolee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Diya Chowdhury, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.