Newly Arrived South Asian Students’ Experience with the Canadian Healthcare System

Abstract

In this article, we report on the experiences of newly arrived South Asian international students (undergraduate and graduate levels) with accessing healthcare services in a small town setting in British Columbia, Canada. The objective of the study was to better understand the barriers and facilitators of accessing healthcare services. We used a qualitative design with an exploratory approach and conducted 8 semi-structured interviews with South Asians students that had newly arrived in the city of Kamloops and had been enrolled at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) for less than 12 months. Findings included barriers such as needing more information during on campus orientation, inefficiencies of the healthcare system, and accessing healthcare service. Facilitators of accessing healthcare services included attending campus orientation, having a curiosity, and a social support system. These findings provide new knowledge regarding the barriers and facilitators of accessing healthcare in Canada. In order to better meet the needs of international students programs and services must be tailored to this unique group of students.