Health and Illness in Your Community

Health and Illness in Your Community

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Abstract

Canada has taken up the challenge of resettling about 10,000 refugees from Syria. As a result, the Canadian government has been met with a challenging task of ensuring that it revises its Interim Federal Health Programs to ensure that the refugees are included in the provision of affordable health care. The private healthcare system is also at a risk of evaluation as they aim at creating a healthy community. The Liberals in Canada had promised to consider the refugees health through enabling them to be citizens, which would grant them privileges such as subsidized healthcare. This evaluation owes to the different inequalities that the Syrian immigrants and refugees have been exposed to over the few months. Arguably, the vulnerability rate for refugees is of great concern and warrants immediate attention. Although the immunity levels for immigrants may be considered high, the increasing acculturation into the standards of living has continually deteriorated their health.

Health and Illness in Your Community

Introduction

            The healthcare system in different countries intends to deal with the health care disparities in most vulnerable populations by setting up goals and programs in such areas. Among the vulnerable populations that have experienced challenges with access to health care owing to their condition, include the immigrants, refugees and the internally displaced. Their unable condition renders them prone to the various health diseases and infections that are dominant in various areas.

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Health Care Inequalities for Syrian Immigrants

The health domain of immigrants falls under the physical, social and psychological aspects as they focus more on adapting to the new surrounding. I observed health care inequalities when it came to the immigrants who found it difficult to access the basic healthcare facilities as well as medications to manage the infections that were exposed to them. The government claims to consider the vulnerability levels of the immigrants and refugees to predominant illnesses in health care by allocating resources and finances to meet the diverse hospital needs (Broadley, 2014). However, during my observation of the Syrian refugees in Canada, it was evident that there were a number of inequalities in the system.

Canada is among the countries that have accepted to incorporate the Syrian refugees permanently in their community. Such a move warrants the government to review its policies regarding a number of factors. A major issue arises with the healthcare program that was initiated in Canada that caters for registered residents. The most prevalent inequality in the Canadian heath care system is the elevated costs of acquiring medical treatment in hospitals and private institutions for immigrants and refugees (Broadley, 2014). Arguably, as Canada has accepted to make refugees citizens, it is required that they access healthcare in the same costs granted to residents. Those who fail to meet the cost of healthcare in Canada are exposed to poor diagnosis, treatment and services. They are limited to the number of healthcare specialists that are availed to them therefore a slow treatment process.

Although some immigrants worked to meet the costs, I observed that services were not offered to them in time. Most leading practitioners were focused on citizens that were brought at the emergency centers and those with immediate pending procedures. Cases related to immigrants were passed on to junior nurses who did not possess the relevant skills and experience to deal with the issues. The immigrant and refugees had to wait long hours regardless of the urgency in terms of attendance before they acquired treatment (Loue & Sajatovic, 2012). A failure to ensure that midwifery services were offered to pregnant refugees through timely response caused many fetal deaths. Previous evaluations have shown that most immigrant deaths are on the increase because of failure in the health care system to ascertain smooth and relevant processes in its activities that focus on the health and well-being of the patient. This inequality costs the life of innocent refugees and immigrants.
Inequity That Was Avoidable, unfair or unjust

Practitioners in Canada believe that an inequality in the provision of health care owes to the indifference seen in culture, language and tradition of the patients. However, this is not the case. Incompetence in the provision of health care services is the contributing factor to inequality. The solid perception that medical care should be availed based on origin and culture shows that the hospitals are not credible and able to manage the increasing need for healthcare with immigrants. I believe that value should be sensitized in terms of issuing treatment and diagnosis in hospitals. In this situation, allocating higher prices for people of different origin and nationality fails to create value in the healthcare system. As many disparities may arise because of communication issues, it does not warrant practitioners to deny immigrants quality service and treatment.

Although Syrian refugees have often experienced health issues when it comes to adapting to the environment, people fail to understand how the increased costs are directly as a cause of elevated immigration. It is likely that the refugees require less medical attention as compared to the Canadian residents. Immigrants have been associated with high tolerance levels when exposed to different conditions that assist them to maneuver through various countries. Such tolerance is associated with strong immune systems therefore lower vulnerability to Canadian based infections. Therefore, it would be unfair to increase the costs to match up with the desired quality standards.

The government has a sole responsibility to ensure that amenities such as health care are distributed evenly in different geographical locations. This includes the availability of hospital staff, equipment and emergency services (Loue & Sajatovic, 2012). However, once an institution fails to ascertain the patients that they are in control of situations through provision of fair and timely services, there occurs an inequality in the system. It would be unfair to offer treatment based on citizenship rather than conditional and emergency aspects. The most common type of service involves a first come first serve basis with exceptions made for emergency conditions. It is possible that the mortality rate of immigrants ay reduce once practitioners ignore the perception of indifference treatment and focus on the health and well-being of the patient.

Similarly, there is an inequality in the access to health care and emergency services by immigrants and refugees. The distribution of professionals and nurses that provide timely response to Syrian refugees is limited by the negative perception that the refugees are not a major concern. The contribution to the economy is invalid and does not contribute to the improvements in social, political or financial aspects of the society. Therefore, people will argue that it is better to allocate resources to productive populations in Canada that creates significance in the economic development. This unfair condition will deprive Syrian immigrants the access to timely and responsive healthcare (Loue & Sajatovic, 2012). The government can alter this condition by developing emergency stations, community health centers and refugee shelters that will cater for the immigrants.
Summary or Implications for Nursing Practice

The constant increase in the number of Syrian immigrants in Canada may warrant the government and healthcare controllers to review the programs that are in place if they are to handle the situation. Inequalities to access of healthcare for the immigrants are likely to cause incompetence and distrust in the nursing practice. The credibility of practitioners may be at stake in case the rate of inequalities in healthcare provision for immigrants persists.

Conclusion

            Immigrants and refugees are often perceived as vulnerable populations owing to the increased risk of poor physical, social and psychological health. This is associated with the provision of substandard and inadequate healthcare systems that render them at a disadvantage. Syrian immigrants are forced to match up to the costs in order to access health care. With the increased immigrant population, it is important that the government strive to address the healthcare needs of the immigrants.

References

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Broadley, L. (2014). ‘Cruel and unusual’: What does the refugee health ruling mean?. Global News. Retrieved 4 October 2016, from http://globalnews.ca/news/1433062/cruel-and-unusual-what-does-the-refugee-health-ruling-mean/

Loue, S., & Sajatovic, M. (2012). Encyclopedia of immigrant health. New York: Springer.Bottom of Form