Multicultural Health Needs and Barriers in BC

From January 2005 – March 2006, AMSSA implemented a province-wide community health assessment. 270 health care consumers speaking 12 different languages from 16 communities, 30 immigrant settlement and social workers and 10 representatives from BC’s Health Authorities identified the following major needs and barriers multi-ethnic and multi-lingual communities face when attempting to access health care services.

• Information about:services available in the community, prevention/management of chronic conditions, sex education for youth, and how to navigate the system
• Improved communication with health care providers- Difficulties understanding medical jargon and prescription use
• More community resources - Physical and recreational activities, more public transportation at night
• More settlement support services – to assist with understanding and navigation of the healthcare system
•  Access to primary and specialized health care - Limited number of family doctors and specialists in smaller communities

BARRIERS BC MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITIES FACE IN HEALTH CARE

1. Language - Limited number of interpreters, translated materials in first languages, bilingual staff
2. Financial - MSP fees, cost of dental and eye care, prescriptions, transportation, limited employment opportunities
3. Lack of information on available resources, rights, entitlements, how the system works
4. Health care providers attitudes
5. Lack of cultural competence
6. Lack of foreign education credentials recognition
7. Three-month period required to access health care services
8. Western medical model, system fragmentation, lack of coordination among providers

To address the identified lack of information about available services and resources and support health providers and communities in improving access to services for multicultural communities in BC, we are carrying out the following activities:

1. Development and dissemination of a Multicultural Health Fair Tool Kit
2. Update  and Promotion of the on- line Multicultural Health Resources and  Multicultural Health Directory.
3. Development of resource guides including multicultural health programs and resources available in 25 BC Communities.

1. Multicultural Health Fair Tool Kit
The Tool Kit is intended as a practical guide to assist communities across BC in planning, developing, promoting and implementing a Multicultural Health Fair in their corner of the province.  Tailored specifically for non-profit agencies, it will be useful to both boards, staff members, community health agencies and Health Authorities. Drawing on more than three years of health fair planning as well as two very successful Multicultural Health Fairs, the tool kit has been being built in response to the needs expressed by community groups and is another step in AMSSA’s goals to help increase access to health care and information for multi-ethnic, multicultural communities across BC.  A ready-to-roll, evidence based and interdisciplinary guide, the Tool Kit has been designed specifically for groups to promote, distribute and build partnerships with stakeholders and the public on health issues that concern their communities.
If you would like more information about the Toolkit or to order a copy, please contact: amssahealth@amssa.org

2. Multicultural Health Resources
The on-line database of Multicultural Health publications that can be accessed at: http://www.amssa.org/multiculturalhealthyliving/phase2/resources.cfm  has been developed as a service for AMSSA members and the general public. Currently it contains hundreds of publications covering a large range of multicultural health topics including studies on access to health services for health care consumers with limited English proficiency, best practices in service delivery, cultural competence, health conditions, language services and patterns of service utilization among multi-ethnic populations. One of the main features of this resource is that each publication is introduced with a summary and can be downloaded directly from the website saving time and efforts to the user.
This database can be searched by typing in the field search form one or more key words which are included in the title, author's name and / or summary of the multicultural health publications. It can also be searched by typing requested dates in the date field form and publications will be displayed in descending order by date.  

Please complete the User Survey at: http://www.amssa.org/multiculturalhealthyliving/phase2/resources.cfm
and let us know if you have found the information that you were looking for and provide your comments and suggestions.

Multicultural Health Directory
AMSSA has developed the BC Directory of Multicultural Health Expertise
(http://www.amssa.org/multiculturalhealthyliving/phase3/index.html) as a free online service for health organizations, community agencies, institutions, communities and individuals to facilitate the identification of public health care professionals with multicultural health expertise as well as cross-cultural health care services. The Directory:
- Allows BC communities to find multicultural health expertise “close to home” and assess whether there is a need to develop additional health services capacity to meet local needs.
- Provides an open forum for health professionals and networking opportunities for cross-cultural health providers throughout British Columbia.
Up to date 100 health care and social service providers registered their multicultural health expertise and programs using the online form (available at: http://amssa.org/multiculturalhealthyliving/phase3/directoryForm.cfm). Their areas of expertise include: acute care, community health education, food safety health research, home and community care,  interpreter and translation services, mental health and addictions primary health care, public health,  professional education and training. They are providing services in communities across BC to mother and infants, children, youth, adults and older adults in hospitals, community health and mental health centres, non profit agencies and through multilingual phone help- lines.
We invite you to include your expertise and search the Directory at: (http://amssa.org/multiculturalhealthyliving/phase3/searchDirectory.cfm) using one of more of its available fields (name, organization, area of expertise, service and language)

3. Multicultural Health Programs and Resources
In response to recommendations made by participants in surveys and community health assessments conducted by AMSSA we have developed a series of guides including multicultural health programs and resources available in the communities that were surveyed. Each guide is introduced by a message explaining how to use it. This message is available in English, French, Chinese, Korean, Farsi, Punjabi, Spanish and Vietnamese.
AMSSA member agencies will be able to make a print out of these lists and distribute them among their multicultural clients.    
The guides will be updated on an ongoing basis and if you know a multicultural health program or resource that should be included, please contact: amssahealth@amssa.org

How to use the guides (in English and other 7 languages)
To access the guides please click here (links)