Abstract

Older immigrants are generally found to be less likely than their Canadian-born counterparts to seek hospital care and other healthcare services. This study provides insight into healthcare utilization patterns and barriers from the perspectives of older immigrants and their caregivers, and the healthcare social workers assisting them. The research examines five predisposing factors, nine enabling factors, and physical and mental need factors in Andersen’s behavioral model that affect healthcare access. While social workers and multidisciplinary professionals can make efforts to improve mutable factors, such as providing information through community networking and improving the quality and availability of translators in healthcare settings, the factors that acquire mixed levels of mutability-for example, health beliefs and perceived needs, and immigrant status and health insurancerequire long-term commitments of public education and policy change.