Growing inequities by immigration group among older adults: population-based analysis of access to primary care and return to in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Canada

Autor: Cecilia Sierra-Heredia, Elmira Tayyar, Yasmin Bozorgi, Padmini Thakore, Selamawit Hagos, Ruth Carrillo, Stefanie Machado, Sandra Peterson, Shira Goldenberg, Mei-ling Wiedmeyer, M Ruth Lavergne
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: BMC Primary Care, Vol 25, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2731-4553
DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02530-1
Popis: Abstract Background The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic drove a rapid and widespread shift to virtual care, followed by a gradual return to in-person visits. Virtual visits may offer more convenient access to care for some, but others may experience challenges accessing care virtually, and some medical needs must be met in-person. Experiences of the shift to virtual care and benefits of in-person care may vary by immigration experience (immigration status and duration), official language level, and age. We examined use of virtual care and return to in-person visits in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC), comparing patterns by age and across immigration groups, including length of time in Canada and language level (official languages English and French) at time of arrival. Methods We used linked administrative health and immigration data to examine total primary care visits (virtual or in-person) and return to in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019/20–2021/2) in BC. We examined the proportion of people with any primary care visits and with any in-person visits within each year as measures of access to primary care. We estimated the odds of any primary care visits and any in-person visits by immigration group and official language level assessed prior to arrival: non-immigrants, long-term immigrants, recent immigrants (
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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