Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example
—GUIDELINE
Learn about issues that impact their health
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- — Select a priority issue
- — Explore the SDOH impacting that issue
- — Complete an evidenced based scholarly literature review to better understand the issue.
Using the PHPM as guide… explore issue
- — What is causing the issue?
- — What are the underlying factors?
- — What epidemiological data exists on this issue?
- — Is this an isolated issue or does it exist elsewhere?
- — What is being done to manage or address this issue? (strategies currently used)
- — What else could be done?
- — What are the potential consequences of not addressing this issue?
- Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example
Peer Reviewed Scholarly Research
— FORMAT
— Page 1 – intro paragraph (usually 1/2 page)
— Page 1-4 – then develop your ideas. Clearly show the application of the PHPM and must include evidenced based research to support ideas. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example.
Include a closing paragraph (generally 1/4 page)
— Reference page – APA 6th ed format
Canada has one of the highest immigration rates in the world. In fact, among the G8 countries, Canada tops as the country with the highest number of immigrants for seven years in a row. Even though Canada has opened its doors to immigrants seeking employment, such immigrants do not enjoy the same sustained high standards of health like their Canadian-born peers. Health and overall well-being are critical to success in life in addition ensuring that one can positively contribute to the society. However, among others, when employment or work conditions (social determinants of health) are not favorable, the aforementioned cannot be achieved as health of workers get compromised (Anderson, 2010). Immigrants not only have poorer job situations than Canadian-born workers, but they are twice as likely to sustain workplace injuries requiring medical care than workers born in Canada. This paper explores work conditions as a social determinant of health that mainly affects the health of immigrants to Canada. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example
Social determinants of health: Immigrant work conditions
According to Lucyk and McLaren (2017), social determinants of health are conditions in which individuals are born, grow, live, work and eventually age. These circumstances are shaped by aspects such as the distribution of power, money and resources at global, local and national levels. Lucyk and McLaren (2017) further note that social determinants of health are mainly responsible for cases of health inequities – the avoidable and unfair differences in health witnessed within and between countries. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example
Work conditions are an apt example of such with the type of conditions in place being a huge determinant of immigrants’ health status. In Canada, immigrants are more likely to be injured at their places of work than the non-immigrants. Majority of them do not have access to a constant supervisor, may lack employment benefits and lack of unionization. Working under such conditions is not favorable at all. For instance, lack of employment benefits such as full medical care in the event of sickness is a matter that majority of immigrants lack, an aspect that put their lives in danger when they fall sick (Preibisch and Otero, 2014).
Immigrant men have in the past and even today continued to report high cases of medically-treated injuries due to work. One explanation is that immigrants mainly work in hazardous settings. Limited access to non-wage employment benefits such as disability insurance may result in stress, which may lead to development of other life threatening diseases such as heart problem, hypertension and high blood pressure (Lucyk and McLaren, 2017).
There are a couple of causes to the above issue. First, Zuberi and Ptashnick (2012) argue that majority of immigrants looking for employment in Canada take on riskier jobs or jobs with unfavorable work conditions due to necessity. Lack of legal status, less education, lower English ability, and fewer opportunities for jobs make them work in unfavorable work conditions that end up affecting their health status. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example
Closely related to the above, some employers across Canada have always preferred hiring undocumented immigrants, an aspect that would ensure that they do not comply with condition necessary for guest worker programs. This is evident by the number of immigrant farm workers or other immigrants occupying jobs with unfavorable work conditions (Zuberi and Ptashnick, 2012).
According to Stilwell et al (2004), during the first five years of migrating to Canada, immigrants are 30% less likely to work on full-time basis, 65% less likely to have unemployment benefits, 40% more likely to be overqualified for their jobs, and more than twice as likely to be working on part-time basis, though wanting to work on full-time basis. Even if they manage to work on full-time basis, majority of immigrant workers are likely to find themselves working under inhumane work conditions, an aspect that has significantly affected their health status. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example.
Of importance to note is that the above trends are not practical to Canada alone. Health harming exposures at work are common even among other first class economies such as the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom just to mention but a few. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example. Stylized facts do suggest that foreign-born workers in many countries across the globe are more likely to work in risky and health compromising jobs than the natives (Milkman, 2011). For instance, it is not strange to find immigrants having been hugely employed in construction and agricultural sectors and made to perform riskier jobs that compromise their health. For instance, immediately after Hurricane Katrina, it was evident that those doing reconstruction in New Orleans were immigrants who were exposed to dangerous substances and conditions (Milkman, 2011).
Strategies aimed at improving work conditions for immigrant workers in Canada
As of now, it is evident that immigrant workers in Canada work in unfavorable work conditions not fit for their health. Luckily though, the Canadian government seems to be aware of this issue to the extent of undertaking some initiatives aimed at addressing unfavorable work condition challenges that majority of immigrants face. Currently, there are some strategies that have been adopted and subsequently put to use. First, the government has made it a necessity to ensure that all firms that hire immigrant workers ensure that they are adequately trained, especially on safety so that their health status are not compromised (Stilwell et al, 2004).
Secondly, there seems to be increased efforts by hiring firms across Canada in enhancing language access to welfare-to-work programs while increasing the availability of English language. By so doing, immigrant workers are placed in a better position to negotiate for better pay and favorable work conditions. Third, majority of firms in Canada are lately putting in place workforce development programs aimed at forging multi-sector partnerships among unions, employers, faith-based organizations, and the government (Stilwell et al, 2004).
Despite of the above, more could be done. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example. First, Stilwell et al (2004) argues that advancement across careers should be put in place. Here, a clear path should be set for immigrants to advance across their career paths while ensuring that immigrants are put in supervisory roles to supervise other immigrants and ensure that they are observant of safety issues. Secondly, adequate research needs to be undertaken on unfavorable work conditions that affect immigrant worker issues so as to inform program and policy development. Third, there needs to be legal services, litigation, and advocacy in place so as to ensure that immigrant worker rights such as the need to compel firms to ensure that favorable work conditions of immigrant workers are enhanced (Stilwell et al, 2004). Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example.
Potential consequences of failing to address immigrant workers work conditions
Canada is slowly transforming to be one of the countries that seem to advancing immigrant workers rights such as the right for such workers to work in favorable work environments that is not compromising to their health status. However, there are potential consequences of failing to address immigrant workers work conditions, especially to employers. Due to laws passed, failure to do so may see employers being sued or made to pay hefty fines if discovered (Milkman, 2011). Immigrant employment rights make it possible for immigrants to sue their employers and demand compensation in the event that work conditions jeopardize their health status.
Another consequence of failing to address immigrant workers job conditions is continued oppression by employers who may take advantage of immigrant desperate measures to secure a job (Milkman, 2011). Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example.
Conclusion
Immigrant health status is deteriorating in Canada and other places across the globe due to poor work conditions that face them at the place of work. On most occasions, immigrant workers are forced to undertake riskier jobs to being desperate, lack of education, and lacking official documentation. Changes are however starting to be noticed with the Canadian government undertaking initiatives aimed at addressing Canadian immigrant work condition rights. For long, immigrants’ health has been affected due to unfavorable terms of work. With policy changes starting to be undertaken, immigrant work conditions are beginning to improve bit by bit. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example.
References
Anderson, B. (2010). Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers. Work, employment and society, 24(2), 300-317.
Lucyk, K., & McLaren, L. (2017). Taking stock of the social determinants of health: A scoping review. Plos ONE, 12(5), 1-24.
Milkman, R. (2011). Immigrant workers, precarious work, and the US labor movement. Globalizations, 8(3), 361-372. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example
Preibisch, K., & Otero, G. (2014). Does Citizenship Status Matter in Canadian Agriculture? Workplace Health and Safety for Migrant and Immigrant Laborers. Rural Sociology, 79(2), 174-199.
Stilwell, B., Diallo, K., Zurn, P., Vujicic, M., Adams, O., & Dal Poz, M. (2004). Migration of health-care workers from developing countries: strategic approaches to its management. Bulletin of the World health Organization, 82(8), 595-600.
Zuberi, D., & Ptashnick, M. (2012). In Search of a Better Life: The Experiences of Working Poor Immigrants in Vancouver, Canada. International Migration, 50e60-e93. Health Issue Based on Immigrants to Canada essay example