The gap between entitlement and access to healthcare: An analysis of “candidacy” in the help-seeking trajectories of asylum seekers in Montreal

Barriers to Accessing and Negotiating Mental Health Services in Asylum Seeking and Refugee Populations: The Application of the Candidacy Framework

“…lack of citizenship or stigma) [19]. To date, only one study has specifically applied the CF to understanding the help-seeking trajectory of asylum seekers [20]. The study found that asylum seekers' precarious migratory status constrained their candidacy for obtaining HC.…”

“…the resources available for addressing candidacy) and the kinds of contingent relationships that develop between professionals and serviceusers over a number of encounters Adapting the frequency of consultations to the individual's needs specific to asylum seekers, and long waiting times. The findings showed that migratory status and feelings of marginalization and insecurity that come from their migrant status, appeared to amplify the effects of the barriers to care and even minor difficulties to access could have dramatic effects on future help-seeking behavior [20]. The current review uses the CF to synthesize qualitative research findings investigating barriers to accessing and negotiating MH services for AS&Rs in high-income countries (HIC).…”

Eritrean Refugees’ Utilization of Antenatal Services in Israel

“…The qualitative findings enrich understanding of these issues, suggesting that both these indicators of service use might be improved once the barriers of work, a complex health system and miscommunication are addressed. As these barriers have been found to be exacerbated by the precarious legal status of refugees (Fleischman et al., ), the current study provides additional evidence of the permeating negative effect of refugees’ legal status on utilization of healthcare services in Israel (Fleischman et al., ; Gebreyesus et al., ) and other host countries (e.g., Silove et al., ; Ascoly et al., ; Asgary and Segar, ; Chase et al., ). As such, the study findings stress the need for structural changes in their legal status and hence entitlements to health service and health insurance.…”

“A Legacy of Confusion”: An Exploratory Study of Service Provision under the Reinstated Interim Federal Health Program

“…Research in and outside Canada consistently observes that laws and policies that ostensibly stipulate robust health-care entitlement do not singlehandedly guarantee migrants' access to healthcare services.37 For example, during the years of the IFHP cuts, many refugee claimants in Quebec reported experiencing significant difficulties accessing health care in spite of the province having introduced a temporary program soon after 2012 to help them maintain much of their health-care entitlement. 38 If misinformation about the program and administrative hurdles discourage service providers from taking on IFHP beneficiaries as clients, they threaten to limit the range of health care that is available and accessible to refugees and refugee claimants who are legally entitled to receive such care. Moreover, literature shows patients commonly modify their perceived health-care entitlement on the basis of information received from service providers, assuming service providers would know better.39 As such, when incorrect information about IFHP eligibility and coverage harboured by service providers is communicated to patients, this could cause patients to refrain from seeking health-care services in the future to which they are in fact entitled.…”