Trinity Western University researcher Dr. Tina Wu, along with a team of researchers, engaged Chinese-speaking immigrants to uncover their perspectives on, experiences with, and needs for health care. By accommodating cultural backgrounds of B.C.’s diverse patients and populations, the care provided can focus on what matters to the patients and be better-suited to their needs.
Multiculturalism is highly valued and present in Canadian society. In B.C., based on Statistics Canada (2016), more than 200 ethnic groups are reported in Greater Vancouver. About 42% of the population is made up of visible minorities.
Trinity Western researcher Dr. Tina Wu, along with a team of researchers, engaged Chinese-speaking immigrants to uncover their perspectives on, experiences with, and needs for health care.
Their study conducted from April 2020–February 2022 found that Chinese-speaking immigrants may face added barriers in accessing health care in Canada.
Research findings
314 participants completed all survey questions and 20 were purposefully selected for qualitative interviews. Several key findings emerged.
- Participants expressed their needs for the existing health care system in B.C. to provide diversity and inclusion care programs that recognize health beliefs embedded in patients' unique cultural background. For example, participants emphasized cultural health beliefs and practices in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and for physicians to be educated during medical school training about patients' lived experiences relating to cultural heritage.
- Participants also expressed a significant need for language translation support, especially for new immigrants, for example, the need for Chinese-speaking doctors to understand and communicate with them.
- In addition, participants shared their difficulties in finding and booking an appointment with their GP or specialist. The resources available to them are limited—especially for Chinese-speaking new immigrants.
- Lastly, the research uncovered urgent mental health needs among the Chinese-speaking participants. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the severity of this issue and need. Participants expressed a need for mental health professionals who understand their cultural backgrounds. Finding appropriate mental health professionals is especially difficult for new immigrants, who have struggled to find Chinese-speaking providers.
By accommodating cultural backgrounds of B.C.’s diverse patients and populations, the care provided can focus on what matters to the patients and be better-suited to their needs.
Patient-centred measurement surveys
In Dr. Wu's research project, both surveys and qualitative interviews provided the opportunity for a patient’s voice to be heard and recorded as part of their health assessment, alongside other medical data. Listening to the patient’s assessment of their own health and wellness provides useful information for health care professionals beyond the data that traditional medical assessments provide. As such, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly used in patient surveys to obtain information about patients’ perspectives of their health outcomes, including their symptoms and physical, emotional, and social wellbeing.
Enhancing the representation of culturally diverse populations
Many PROMs have been translated into different languages, but are these equivalently representative for people from different cultural traditions? Dr. Wu believes that there is a need for enhancing the representation of culturally diverse populations in patient-centred measurement surveys. Her reseach project, titled "Cross-cultural validation methods for generic PROMs,” is funded by the BC SUPPORT Unit of Michael Smith Health Research BC.
Research team
Dr. Tina Wu, Principal Investigator
Dr. Bruno D. Zumbo, Principal Investigator
Dr. Richard Sawatzky, Co-Principal Investigator
Sophie Ma Zhu
Xuyan Tang
Kyle Dewsnap
Nancy Zhang
Clark Tang
Qunguanyi Xu
Dr. Keith Chan
Dr. Cynthia Chan
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier global Christian liberal arts University. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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Image credit: Jerry Wang on Unsplash.