Telemedicine: Bridging the Gap between Refugee Health and Health Services Accessibility in Hamilton, Ontario

Anthony Robert Sandre; K. Bruce Newbold

doi:10.25071/1920-7336.40396

Telemedicine: Bridging the Gap between Refugee Health and Health Services Accessibility in Hamilton, Ontario

Authors

Anthony Robert Sandre McMaster University
K. Bruce Newbold McMaster University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40396

Keywords:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, telemedicine, telehealth, health services, accessibility, refugees

Abstract

Refugees face considerable challenges upon seeking asylum in Canada, and accessing health care services remains a prominent issue. Recurrent themes in the literature outlining barriers to health-services accessibility include geographic, economic, and cultural barriers. Drawing on the experiences of service providers in Hamilton, Ontario, we explored the efficacy of telemedicine services in bridging the gap between refugee health and health services accessibility. Research methodology included structured interviews with clinicians who provide health-care services to refugees, complemented by a scoping literature review. The results of this exploratory study demonstrate the efficacy of telemedicine in encouraging dialogue and policy change in the greater health-care setting, and its potential to increase access to specialist health-care services.

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Author Biographies

Anthony Robert Sandre, McMaster University

M.D. Candidate, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences

K. Bruce Newbold, McMaster University

Professor of Geography, Director, School of Geography and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science

cover image of Refuge issue with special focus on age discrimination

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Published

2016-11-23

How to Cite

Sandre, A. R., & Newbold, K. B. (2016). Telemedicine: Bridging the Gap between Refugee Health and Health Services Accessibility in Hamilton, Ontario. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 32(3), 108–118. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40396

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Issue

Vol. 32 No. 3 (2016): General Issue, with Special Focus on Age Discrimination in Forced Migration Law, Policy and Practice

Section

Articles

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Refuge authors retain the copyright over their work, and license it to the general public under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License International (CC BY-NC 4.0). This license allows for non-commercial use, reproduction and adaption of the material in any medium or format, with proper attribution. For general information on Creative Commons licences, visit the Creative Commons site. For the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, review the human readable summary.