Health care equity for ethnic minority older adults

ABSTRACT:Recent immigrant older adults and some visible minorities who have aged here-to whom we refer collectively as ethnic or ethnocultural minority older adults (EMOA)-both experience health inequities in Canada. These are primarily related to difficulties with the complex process of accessing suitable services and supports. However, Canadian research on the topic is extremely fragmented and hard to find, and knowledge users charged with designing policy and programs do not have the evidence they need to help them to address access barriers experienced by EMOA. This collection of literature reviews prepared by a team of multidisciplinary academics and multisectoral knowledge users begins the process of consolidating existing evidence. The Candidacy framework for understanding the complex construct of 'access' proved invaluable as a means of exploring the different questions posed by our knowledge user partners. The different dimensions of Candidacy, which take into consideration each of the micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis, unites diverse bodies of literature focusing on community networks, capacity building, community development, health literacy, patient-centred care and communications, cultural competence and responsiveness at the provider and organizational levels, and health care, cultural, housing and immigration policies.