Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
Article CommentaryCommentary

Knowledge translation and better health and health care for migrants in Canada

What is the responsibility of health funders and researchers?

Lisa Merry and Sandra Pelaez
Canadian Family Physician June 2021, 67 (6) 403-405; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.6706403
Lisa Merry
Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Montreal in Quebec.
RN PhD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: lisa.merry@umontreal.ca
Sandra Pelaez
Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Montreal in Quebec.
PhD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

In Canada, migrants—that is, anyone born in another country, and especially refugees, asylum seekers, temporary foreign workers, and undocumented migrants—have unmet health care needs and face barriers in accessing health care.1-3 There are also knowledge gaps and a lack of evidence regarding best practices for addressing certain health concerns in these populations.4-6 We contend that health funders and researchers have a responsibility, especially in the midst of growing anti-migrant rhetoric, to do more to generate migrant health knowledge that is relevant and addresses gaps and to use this knowledge effectively to improve both policy and practice.

Canada has a responsibility to promote migrants’ health

In May 2017, at the Seventieth World Health Assembly, a resolution on “promoting the health of refugees and migrants” was endorsed.7 The World Health Assembly urged member states of the World Health Organization, including Canada, to identify, collect, and develop evidence-based information and best practices toward addressing the health needs of migrants; to ensure the information’s and practices’ relevance and acceptability; and to provide informed translation of the knowledge generated.7

Following the World Health Assembly, a team of researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Aust, conducted a rapid review to identify key considerations for addressing the health needs of refugees and migrants.8 They identified that to better promote the health of migrants, member states must identify population health needs, monitor interventions, and measure health outcomes; develop strategies to encourage healthy living and address the upstream determinants that affect health; develop targeted screening, prevention, and treatment programs, including culturally adapted health education for infectious and noncommunicable diseases, including for mental health; and provide culturally adapted sexual and reproductive health services and education that empower women and girls and improve their health outcomes.8 In addition, they recommended that countries enhance health service access in several ways: by improving the training of health care professionals to ensure that they understand service eligibility for various migrant groups (eg, asylum seekers) and provide culturally safe care; by increasing the use of interpreters, translated information, and cultural mediators; and by addressing stigma and discrimination, which are known to deter migrants from using health care services.8

More efforts are needed in Canada

More work is needed to better address not only the health concerns of migrants but also the barriers they encounter when trying to access care in Canada. A number of studies show that migrants are not receiving the health care they need for a range of health concerns, including psychosocial support and mental health, oral and dental health, maternal and child health, and sexual and reproductive health.3,9-13 Research also shows that migrants encounter a number of challenges that restrict their use of or benefits from health care. These challenges include communication, cultural and socioeconomic barriers, poor health literacy and difficulties in navigating the health care system, and issues in how the health care system is structured and care is delivered.14 A fear of being reported to authorities, a lack of health insurance or the insurance not being recognized or accepted, discrimination, mental illness, and resettlement issues are also key barriers for more vulnerable migrants.1,3,15

Moreover, further research is required to identify the health needs, measure the health outcomes, and determine the appropriate interventions for migrants, especially for more marginalized groups. Despite the growing body of literature on migrant health, some groups continue to be understudied. For example, little is known about the health needs and outcomes of undocumented migrants and temporary foreign workers.16,17 For some health conditions (eg, palliative care), it is not known whether services are adequately accessible or culturally acceptable. And finally, the quality of evidence regarding appropriate screening and intervention for certain health concerns (eg, posttraumatic stress disorder, iron deficiency, social isolation) remains low to moderate, leaving care providers unclear on how to best address these issues.4,5

Clearly, more relevant and more useful knowledge, and greater application of the knowledge that is developed, is necessary. In short, we need more, and better, knowledge translation.

Barriers to translating and applying migrant health knowledge

Knowledge translation is a dynamic and iterative process that involves the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge toward improving health and health services.18 Knowledge creation comprises the production of relevant knowledge, the synthesis of research findings, the development of guidelines and tools, and further research aimed toward tailoring the knowledge to the real-life context.18 An integrated approach to knowledge translation also involves key stakeholders (patients, health care and other service providers, policy makers) to ensure that the knowledge generated is relevant, addresses needs, and is in a usable format. The stakeholders’ involvement, in turn, enhances the likelihood of knowledge uptake and implementation by knowledge users.

Common barriers to knowledge translation lie in the knowledge creation phase.18,19 These obstacles include health needs and outcomes remaining unknown, not having sufficient information on how to apply best practices, responses to existing problems not fitting needs, and the knowledge not being adequately adapted to the real-life context. In migrant health, one of the main reasons that knowledge gaps exist is because the more vulnerable migrants remain underrepresented in research. Migrants are often excluded because it is costly and time-intensive to recruit and gather data from participants who do not speak English or French and are members of more isolated, hard-to-reach groups (eg, those who are undocumented).20 Ethical concerns (ie, a fear of causing harm) might also dissuade researchers from conducting research with these populations.21 Another reason for knowledge gaps is that migrant health, generally, still seems to be underresearched. We conducted a crude search of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Funding Decisions Database (https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/38021.html), which includes all funding decisions announced since January 2009. Using a range of migration-related terms (migration, migrant, immigrant, refugee, asylum seeker, immigration, newcomer, foreign-born, minority), the search yielded fewer than 700 hits among the more than 33 500 items in the database at the time of writing (ie, about 2% of items).

The lack of pertinent migrant health knowledge is partially owing to the difficulty of including key stakeholders in the research process,22 in particular, migrant patients who might be less familiar with research procedures and principles, who do not speak English or French, or who are afraid to participate because, for example, they have a precarious migration status. An examination of CIHR’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research webpage (https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/41204.html) seems to confirm this notion; none of the projects funded by this program appear to have a migrant health focus, and there is no evidence of mechanisms in place to engage more marginalized migrant patients in the research process through this initiative. Furthermore, knowledge continues to not be adapted for migrants because randomized controlled trials and implementation research projects with migrants remain limited—of the 2% of items identified in the CIHR Funding Decisions Database, fewer than 15 items were randomized controlled trials or implementation research.

Health funders’ and researchers’ roles in improving migrant health research and knowledge translation

To address the issue of inadequate knowledge translation of migrant health research in Canada, health funders and researchers need to ensure that the research conducted is relevant and addresses gaps, and that the knowledge it generates is usable (Box 1).23

Box 1.

Recommendations for health funders and researchers

Recommendations for health funders

  • Foster the inclusion of diverse migrant populations in all research

    - by developing mechanisms to encourage their inclusion (eg, have a question in the funding application asking whether migrants will be included and request a justification for exclusions), and

    - by providing adequate funding for studies to include migrants who do not speak English or French or who are members of more isolated groups

  • Prioritize research on migrant health

    - by creating and launching research initiatives or calls specific to migrant health, including implementation research (eg, similar to CIHR’s Pathways to Health Equity for Aboriginal Peoples initiative), and

    - by providing sufficient funding for this research to allow for its dissemination in multiple languages and across different stakeholders

  • Promote and facilitate patient-oriented research

    - by allocating funding and implementing strategies (via CIHR’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research or other initiatives) to increase migrants’ engagement in the research process

Recommendations for researchers

  • Conduct more randomized controlled trials

    - to test interventions in migrant populations (eg, health literacy, health promotion, health education, and mental health interventions), and

    - to test migrant training and education interventions with health care professionals

  • Carry out implementation research, including barriers to and facilitators of implementation, toward improving the transfer of evidence into real-world practice across a variety of settings

  • Use more participatory approaches wherein knowledge users and migrant patients are involved throughout the research process23

  • Consider initiating a CIHR Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research project (eg, responsive approaches for supporting the mental health of migrants)

CIHR—Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Regarding the use of participatory approaches, the involvement of communities and organizations is considered not only a way to improve knowledge translation, but also a method to overcome some of the ethical concerns that lead to the exclusion of vulnerable migrants from research.21,23 Organizations can provide guidance on how to ensure the safety of participants, offer direct support and care for those in need, and ensure that results are disseminated and used such that they do not cause harm.

Conclusion

More concerted efforts are needed by health funders and researchers to improve knowledge translation of migrant health research in Canada. To this end, health funders and researchers should undertake actions related to the knowledge creation phase of knowledge translation. Specifically, these actions should be aimed, first, at ensuring that research produces relevant knowledge and addresses gaps and, second, toward optimizing knowledge so that it is appropriate and usable in practice and policy.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    None declared

  • The opinions expressed in commentaries are those of the authors. Publication does not imply endorsement by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

  • This article has been peer reviewed.

  • Cet article se trouve aussi en français à la page 411.

  • Copyright © the College of Family Physicians of Canada

References

  1. 1.↵
    1. Campbell RM,
    2. Klei A,
    3. Hodges BD,
    4. Fisman D,
    5. Kitto S.
    A comparison of health access between permanent residents, undocumented immigrants and refugee claimants in Toronto, Canada. J Immigr Minor Health 2014;16(1):165-76.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  2. 2.
    1. Ridde V,
    2. Aho J,
    3. Ndao EM,
    4. Benoit M,
    5. Hanley J,
    6. Lagrange S, et al.
    Unmet healthcare needs among migrants without medical insurance in Montreal, Canada. Glob Public Health 2020;15(11):1603-16. Epub 2020 May 27.
    OpenUrl
  3. 3.↵
    1. Tuck A,
    2. Oda A,
    3. Hynie M,
    4. Bennett-AbuAyyash C,
    5. Roche B,
    6. Agic B, et al.
    Unmet health care needs for Syrian refugees in Canada: a follow-up study. J Immigr Minor Health 2019;21(6):1306-12.
    OpenUrl
  4. 4.↵
    1. Diaz E,
    2. Ortiz-Barreda G,
    3. Ben-Shlomo Y,
    4. Holdsworth M,
    5. Salami B,
    6. Rammohan A, et al.
    Interventions to improve immigrant health: a scoping review. Eur J Public Health 2017;27(3):433-9.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  5. 5.↵
    1. Pottie K,
    2. Tugwell P,
    3. Feightner J,
    4. Welch V,
    5. Greenaway C,
    6. Swinkels H, et al.
    Summary of clinical preventive care recommendations for newly arriving immigrants and refugees to Canada. CMAJ 2011 Jul 25. Epub ahead of print. Available from: https://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2011/07/22/cmaj.090313/tab-e-letters?versioned=true. Accessed 2021 Apr 23.
  6. 6.↵
    1. Riza E,
    2. Kalkman S,
    3. Coritsidis A,
    4. Koubardas S,
    5. Vassiliu S,
    6. Lazarou D, et al.
    Community-based healthcare for migrants and refugees: a scoping literature review of best practices. Healthcare (Basel) 2020;8(2):115.
    OpenUrl
  7. 7.↵
    1. World Heath Organization
    . Promoting the health of refugees and migrants. Seventieth World Health Assembly agenda item 13.7, WHA70.15. Geneva, Switz: World Health Organization; 2017. Available from: https://www.who.int/migrants/about/A70_R15-en.pdf. Accessed 2021 Apr 23.
  8. 8.↵
    1. Cheng IH,
    2. Advocat J,
    3. Vasi S,
    4. Enticott JC,
    5. Willey S,
    6. Wahidi S, et al.
    A rapid review of evidence-based information, best practices and lessons learned in addressing the health needs of refugees and migrants: report to the World Health Organization. Melbourne, Aust: Monash University; 2018.
  9. 9.↵
    1. Ganann R,
    2. Sword W,
    3. Black M,
    4. Carpio B.
    Influence of maternal birthplace on postpartum health and health services use. J Immigr Minor Health 2012;14(2):223-9.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  10. 10.
    1. Oda A,
    2. Hynie M,
    3. Tuck A,
    4. Agic B,
    5. Roche B,
    6. McKenzie K.
    Differences in self-reported health and unmet health needs between government assisted and privately sponsored Syrian refugees: a cross-sectional survey. J Immigr Minor Health 2019;21(3):439-42.
    OpenUrl
  11. 11.
    1. Calvasina P,
    2. Muntaner C,
    3. Quiñonez C.
    Factors associated with unmet dental care needs in Canadian immigrants: an analysis of the longitudinal survey of immigrants to Canada. BMC Oral Health 2014;14:145.
    OpenUrl
  12. 12.
    1. Gagnon AJ,
    2. Dougherty G,
    3. Wahoush O,
    4. Saucier JF,
    5. Dennis CL,
    6. Stanger E, et al.
    International migration to Canada: the post-birth health of mothers and infants by immigration class. Soc Sci Med 2013;76(1):197-207. Epub 2012 Nov 12.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  13. 13.↵
    1. Aptekman M,
    2. Rashid M,
    3. Wright V,
    4. Dunn S.
    Unmet contraceptive needs among refugees. Crossroads Clinic experience. Can Fam Physician 2014;60:e613-9. Available from: https://www.cfp.ca/content/cfp/60/12/e613.full.pdf. Accessed 2021 May 5.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  14. 14.↵
    1. Ahmed S,
    2. Shommu NS,
    3. Rumana N,
    4. Barron GRS,
    5. Wicklum S,
    6. Turin TC.
    Barriers to access of primary healthcare by immigrant populations in Canada: a literature review. J Immigr Minor Health 2016;18(6):1522-40.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  15. 15.↵
    1. Merry LA,
    2. Gagnon AJ,
    3. Kalim N,
    4. Bouris SS.
    Refugee claimant women and barriers to health and social services post-birth. Can J Public Health 2011;102(4):286-90.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  16. 16.↵
    1. Vahabi M,
    2. Wong JPH.
    Caught between a rock and a hard place: mental health of migrant live-in caregivers in Canada. BMC Public Health 2017;17(1):498.
    OpenUrl
  17. 17.↵
    1. Magalhaes L,
    2. Carrasco C,
    3. Gastaldo D.
    Undocumented migrants in Canada: a scope literature review on health, access to services, and working conditions. J Immigr Minor Health 2010;12(1):132-51.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  18. 18.↵
    1. Straus SE,
    2. Tetroe J,
    3. Graham I.
    Defining knowledge translation. CMAJ 2009;181(3-4):165-8.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  19. 19.↵
    1. Johnson M,
    2. Jackson R,
    3. Guillaume L,
    4. Meier P,
    5. Goyder E.
    Barriers and facilitators to implementing screening and brief intervention for alcohol misuse: a systematic review of qualitative evidence. J Public Health (Oxford) 2010;33(3):412-21. Epub 2010 Dec 17.
    OpenUrl
  20. 20.↵
    1. Egleston BL,
    2. Pedraza O,
    3. Wong YN,
    4. Dunbrack RL Jr,
    5. Griffin CL,
    6. Ross EA, et al.
    Characteristics of clinical trials that require participants to be fluent in English. Clin Trials 2015;12(6):618-26. Epub 2015 Jul 7.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  21. 21.↵
    1. Merry L,
    2. Low A,
    3. Carnevale F,
    4. Gagnon AJ.
    Participation of childbearing international migrant women in research: the ethical balance. Nurs Ethics 2016;23(1):61-78. Epub 2014 Dec 18.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  22. 22.↵
    1. Patrick K.
    Realizing the vision of patient-relevant clinical research. CMAJ 2016;188(15):1063. Epub 2016 Oct 3.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  23. 23.↵
    1. Robert E,
    2. Merry L,
    3. Benoît M,
    4. Guimaraes DB,
    5. Ruiz-Casares M.
    Rien ne doit se faire pour eux sans eux: renforcer la participation des demandeurs d’asile, réfugiés et migrants sans statut et des organismes communautaires dans la recherche en santé. Can J Public Health 2018;109(3):312-5. Epub 2018 Apr 23.
    OpenUrl
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Family Physician: 67 (6)
Canadian Family Physician
Vol. 67, Issue 6
1 Jun 2021
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Knowledge translation and better health and health care for migrants in Canada
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Knowledge translation and better health and health care for migrants in Canada
Lisa Merry, Sandra Pelaez
Canadian Family Physician Jun 2021, 67 (6) 403-405; DOI: 10.46747/cfp.6706403

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Share
Knowledge translation and better health and health care for migrants in Canada
Lisa Merry, Sandra Pelaez
Canadian Family Physician Jun 2021, 67 (6) 403-405; DOI: 10.46747/cfp.6706403
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Canada has a responsibility to promote migrants’ health
    • More efforts are needed in Canada
    • Barriers to translating and applying migrant health knowledge
    • Health funders’ and researchers’ roles in improving migrant health research and knowledge translation
    • Conclusion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • La transmission des connaissances et l’amélioration de la santé et des soins pour les migrants au Canada
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Racism as a determinant of health and health care
  • Cost-of-living challenges highlight urgency for clinicians to prescribe affordable medications
  • Ending the generational blame game
Show more Commentary

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
  • Collections - English
  • Collections - Française

For Authors

  • Authors and Reviewers
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Permissions
  • Terms of Use

General Information

  • About CFP
  • About the CFPC
  • Advertisers
  • Careers & Locums
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Subscribers

Journal Services

  • Email Alerts
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • RSS Feeds

Copyright © 2023 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Powered by HighWire