Health Status of Refugees Settled in Alberta: Changes Since Arrival (Quantitative Research) (Clinical Report‪)‬

Health status of refugees is an important aspect of their successful resettlement in Canada. (1) Research on refugee health has traditionally focused on acute post-traumatic response (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder) to the stresses of war exposure. (2,3) A recent meta-analysis highlighted that the multiple dimensions of refugees' resettlement cannot be understood without consideration of a wide range of pre- and post-migration stressors beyond those that are acutely post-traumatic. (4,5) Yet, very little is known about which pre- and post-migration factors are associated with mental or physical health of refugees. (2,3) Using data on refugees destined to Alberta, this paper sought to identify pre- and post-migration factors that are associated with changes in their health status. Among pre- and post-migration factors, we emphasized the role of risk factors that refugees might have been exposed to prior to migration (e.g., having been to a refugee camp) and following migration to Canada (e.g., discrimination, (un)employment, economic hardship), as well as protective factors (e.g., settlement services utilization during the first year in Canada). METHODS