Grant: Project Grant

The project focuses on transnational healthcare practices (THP) among immigrants in Canada. THP refers to immigrants seeking healthcare from their countries of origin. This includes accessing health information, products, and services related to assessment, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Engaging in THP can be a risk to patient safety, for example, if they do not disclose medications obtained from their home country to their doctor in Canada or if they use conflicting advice to manage illnesses. Considerable literature exists in other immigrant receiving countries on this critical topic but Canadian research is limited on THP. Our project will identify the nature, scope, trends, patterns, drivers, and implications of THP: what factors influence immigrants' decision to engage in THP, how are THP maintained and how do they change over time, and what implications THP have for immigrants, healthcare providers and the healthcare system. Working with community partners, the 5-year study will be conducted in Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver. It will focus on immigrants (i.e. foreign-born adults residing in Canada) from the largest immigrant populations in Canada: East Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern. In Phase 1, we will develop and pilot-test a survey, which will be used in Phase 2 to collect data from 1500 immigrants in the three cities. In Phase 3, we will conduct group interviews with immigrants, community leaders, and service providers to clarify, verify, and fill in gaps in the emerging results on THP. The team's solid experience conducting large studies involving diverse immigrants will ensure the project's success and relevance of findings for local knowledge users. Our study results will help identify key barriers in the healthcare system that drive immigrants in Canada to engage in THP, which can inform practice guidelines for nursing, medicine, and pharmacy to better coordinate care and support the health and safety of those engaging in THP.