Examining the gender, ethnicity, and age dimensions of the healthy immigrant effect: factors in the development of equitable health policy.

This study expands on previous research on the healthy immigrant effect (HIE) in Canada by considering the effects of both immigrant and visible minority status on self-rated health for males and females in mid-(45-64) and later life (65+). The findings reveal a strong HIE among new immigrant middle-aged men, particularly non-Whites. For older men of color the reality is strikingly different: they are disadvantaged in health compared to their Canadian-born counterparts, even when a number of demographic, economic, and lifestyle factors are controlled.

Comparing social determinants of self-rated health across the United States and Canada.

A large body of research shows that social determinants of health have significant impact on the health of Canadians and Americans. Yet, very few studies have directly compared the extent to which social factors are associated with health in the two countries, in large part due to the historical lack of comparable cross-national data. This study examines differences in the effect of a wide-range of social determinants on self-rated health across the two populations using data explicitly designed to facilitate comparative health research-Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health.

Comparing racial and immigrant health status and health care access in later life in Canada and the United States.

Little comparative research exists on health experiences and conditions of minority groups in Canada and the United States, despite both countries having a racially diverse population with a significant proportion of immigrants. This article explores race and immigrant disparities in health and health care access across the two countries. The study focus was on middle and old age given the change and increasing diversity in health and health care policy, such as Medicare.

Ethnic differences in self-rated and functional health: does immigrant status matter?

The current study examines self-rated health status and functional health differences between first-generation immigrant and Canadian-born (CB) persons who share the same ethnocultural origin, and the extent to which such differences reflect social structural and health-related behavioural contexts. Multivariate analyses of data from the 2000/2001 Canadian Community Health Survey indicate that first-generation immigrants of Black and French ethnicity tend to have better health than their CB counterparts, while the opposite is true for those of South Asian and Chinese origins, providing evidence that for these groups, immigrant status matters. West Asians and Arabs and other Asian groups are advantaged in health regardless of country of birth.

Age, SES, and health: a population level analysis of health inequalities over the lifecourse.

This paper tests two competing hypotheses on the relationship between age, SES, and health inequality at the cohort/population level. The accumulation hypothesis predicts that the level of SES-based health inequality, and consequently the overall level of health inequality, within a cohort progressively increases as it ages. The divergence-convergence hypothesis predicts that these inequalities increase only up to early-old age then decrease.

Examining the healthy immigrant effect in mid- to later life: findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey.

Recent studies have established that a healthy immigrant effect operates in Canada-immigrants are generally healthier than Canadian-born persons-but that this effect tends to diminish over time, as the health of immigrants converges to the Canadian norm. Although this effect has been examined by place of birth, language, marital status, socio-economic status, charter-language ability, and category of immigrant status in Canada, less is known about the healthy immigrant effect at different stages of the life course, particularly in mid- to later adulthood, stages at which there is an increased likelihood of decline in physical and mental health status. This study examines how age at immigration affects the health of mid- to later-life immigrants, compared to Canadian-born persons, using data from the 2000-2001 Canadian Community Health Survey.

A life course perspective on the relationship between socio-economic status and health: testing the divergence hypothesis.

While adults from all socio-economic status (SES) levels generally encounter a decline in health as they grow older, research shows that health status is tied to SES at all stages of life. The dynamics of the relationship between SES and health over the life course of adult Canadians, however, remain largely unexplored. This paper tests the divergence hypothesis, which postulates that the SES-based gap in health widens with age, using a representative sample of Canadians aged 25 to 79 from the 1994-1995 National Population Health Survey.

Gender differences in health: a Canadian study of the psychosocial, structural and behavioural determinants of health.

Gender-based inequalities in health have been frequently documented. This paper examines the extent to which these inequalities reflect the different social experiences and conditions of men's and women's lives. We address four specific questions.

Gender differences in the influence of economic, lifestyle, and psychosocial factors on later-life health.

Background: Gender differences in exposure to social resources play a significant role in influencing gender inequalities in health. A related question--and our focus--asks whether these inequalities are also influenced by gendered vulnerabilities to social forces. Specifically, this paper examines the differential impact of social forces on the health of elderly (65+) men and women.