Effects of Service Barriers on Health Status of Older Chinese Immigrants in Canada‪.‬

There are abundant research findings on service barriers in older ethnocultural minority individuals. Although it is generally believed that service barriers create a negative impact on health outcomes, little research is available to examine this relationship. With the continuous increase in the immigrant population in Western countries, it is essential for practitioners and policymakers to understand the factors that facilitate better health and well-being of elderly immigrants, who are often considered one of the most vulnerable immigrant groups due to the multiple challenges they face as immigrants and older adults. In this study, we examined the relationships between service barriers and aging Chinese immigrants and their health status. Recent research has provided evidence of the disparities in health and access to health services among ethnocultural minorities in Canada and the United States (Dunlop, Coyte, & McIsaac, 2000; Groeneveld, Laufer, & Garber, 2005; Moy, Dayton, & Clancy, 2005;Williams, 2005). Research on social determinants of health has also indicated how systemic social and economic barriers are associated with health outcomes for visible minority groups (Willems, De Maesschalck, Deveugele, Derese, & De Maeseneer, 2005), highlighting the importance of understand ing health status by incorporating nonhealth factors. Service access problems concerning minority elders include language (Talamantes, Lawler, & Espino, 1995), lack of transportation (Morgan & Sampsel, 1994;Tsai & Lopez, 1997), inadequate knowledge of services (Richardson, 1992; Tsai & Lopez), and inadequate financial resources (Damron-Rodriguez, Wallace, & Kington, 1994).