IADR Abstract Archives
Towards Equitable Dental Care: Lessons From Humanitarian Migrants in Montreal
Objectives: To explore the perceptions of Montreal’s humanitarian migrants on how to improve access to oral health care.
Methods: We used focused ethnography, embedding interviews and participant observation within the sociocultural context of participants. We adapted the McGill Illness Narrative Interview (MINI) guide, interviewing a purposeful sample of 25 humanitarian migrants living in Montreal with oral health problems. Each interview was ~50 minutes and audio-recorded for verbatim transcription. Observation took place during mobile outreach clinics over the same period (2015-2016). Preliminary analysis employed deductive codes from Grembowski’s Model of Dental Care Process and the MINI, and inductive codes were emergent from interviews. Coding was followed by ethnographic analysis and interpretation.
Results: This presentation focuses on three salient findings concerning perspectives of participants on oral health services: 1. Current care: The current model provided high-quality care but is unaffordable; participants called for preferential pricing; 2. Policy: Participants proposed inclusive legislation to provide access to basic dental care for all categories of humanitarian migrants. Dental benefits should be same as for welfare recipients. Although participants supported a policy on pre-migration dental treatment, they opposed compulsory dental examination without treatment; 3. Services: Mobile and community dental clinics were seen as important methods to provide oral care. Similarly, participants called for oral health promotion and orientation sessions, for humanitarian migrants, early upon arrival in Canada.
Conclusions: Humanitarian migrants in this study experienced inadequate oral health care and proposed strategies for improvement. Their lived experiences may help us to address the gaps in the provision of oral health care among humanitarian migrants.
Methods: We used focused ethnography, embedding interviews and participant observation within the sociocultural context of participants. We adapted the McGill Illness Narrative Interview (MINI) guide, interviewing a purposeful sample of 25 humanitarian migrants living in Montreal with oral health problems. Each interview was ~50 minutes and audio-recorded for verbatim transcription. Observation took place during mobile outreach clinics over the same period (2015-2016). Preliminary analysis employed deductive codes from Grembowski’s Model of Dental Care Process and the MINI, and inductive codes were emergent from interviews. Coding was followed by ethnographic analysis and interpretation.
Results: This presentation focuses on three salient findings concerning perspectives of participants on oral health services: 1. Current care: The current model provided high-quality care but is unaffordable; participants called for preferential pricing; 2. Policy: Participants proposed inclusive legislation to provide access to basic dental care for all categories of humanitarian migrants. Dental benefits should be same as for welfare recipients. Although participants supported a policy on pre-migration dental treatment, they opposed compulsory dental examination without treatment; 3. Services: Mobile and community dental clinics were seen as important methods to provide oral care. Similarly, participants called for oral health promotion and orientation sessions, for humanitarian migrants, early upon arrival in Canada.
Conclusions: Humanitarian migrants in this study experienced inadequate oral health care and proposed strategies for improvement. Their lived experiences may help us to address the gaps in the provision of oral health care among humanitarian migrants.