Virtual Health, Fraser Health Authority, Surrey, BC, Canada.
JMIR Hum Factors. 2023 Oct 9;10:e47288. doi: 10.2196/47288.
The remote, dispersed, and multicultural population of Canada presents unique challenges for health care services. Currently, virtual care solutions are being offered as an innovative solution to improve access to care.
Given the inequities in health care access faced by immigrant, refugee, and Indigenous Canadians, this review aimed to summarize information obtained from original research regarding these people's experiences with virtual care services in Canada.
We conducted a rapid review following published recommendations. MEDLINE and CINAHL were searched for studies relating to virtual care and Canadian immigrants, refugees, or Indigenous peoples. Peer-reviewed articles of any type were included so long as they included information on the experiences of virtual care service delivery in Canada among the abovementioned groups.
This review demonstrates an extreme paucity of evidence examining the experiences of immigrant, refugee, and Indigenous groups with virtual care in Canada. Of the 694 publications screened, 8 were included in this review. A total of 2 studies focused on immigrants and refugees in Canada, with the remaining studies focusing on Indigenous communities. Results demonstrate that virtual care is generally accepted within these communities; however, cultural appropriateness or safety and inequitable access to wireless services in certain communities were among the most cited barriers.
Little evidence exists outlining immigrants', refugees', and Indigenous peoples' perspectives on the landscape of virtual care in Canada. The development of virtual care programming should take into consideration the barriers, facilitators, and recommendations outlined in this review to improve equitable access. Further, developers should consult with local community members to ensure the appropriateness of services for immigrant, refugee, and Indigenous communities in Canada.
加拿大人口分布广泛、文化多元且居住分散，这对医疗保健服务提出了独特的挑战。目前，虚拟医疗服务作为一种创新的解决方案，旨在改善医疗服务的可及性。
鉴于加拿大移民、难民和原住民在获得医疗保健方面存在不平等现象，本综述旨在总结从加拿大针对上述人群的虚拟医疗服务使用经验的原始研究中获得的信息。
我们按照已发表的建议进行了快速综述。检索了 MEDLINE 和 CINAHL 中与加拿大移民、难民或原住民的虚拟医疗相关的研究。只要包含有关上述群体在加拿大提供虚拟医疗服务的经验信息，就纳入了任何类型的同行评审文章。
本综述表明，在加拿大，检查移民、难民和原住民群体对虚拟医疗的体验的证据非常有限。在筛选的 694 篇出版物中，有 8 篇被纳入本综述。共有 2 项研究关注加拿大的移民和难民，其余研究则侧重于原住民社区。结果表明，虚拟医疗在这些社区中通常是被接受的；然而，文化适宜性或安全性以及某些社区中无线服务获取的不平等是被引用最多的障碍。
关于加拿大虚拟医疗服务现状，移民、难民和原住民的观点几乎没有证据支持。虚拟医疗服务的开发应考虑本综述中概述的障碍、促进因素和建议，以改善公平获取服务的机会。此外，开发人员应咨询当地社区成员，以确保服务适合加拿大的移民、难民和原住民社区。
