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Kohler G, Holland T, Sharpe A, Irwin M, Sampalli T, MacDonell K, Kidd N, Edwards L, Gibson R, Legate A, Ampi Kanakam R. The Newcomer Health Clinic in Nova Scotia: A Beacon Clinic to Support the Health Needs of the Refugee Population. Int J Health Policy Manag 2018; 7:1085-1089. [PMID: 30709083 PMCID: PMC6358655 DOI: 10.15171/ijhpm.2018.54] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 06/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Refugees tend to have greater vulnerability compared to the general population reporting greater need for physical,
emotional, or dental problems compared to the general population. Despite the importance of creating strong
primary care supports for these patients, it has been demonstrated that there is a significant gap in accessing
primary care providers who are willing to accept the refugee population. These have resulted in bottlenecks in the
transition or bridge clinics and have left patients orphaned without a primary care provider. This in turn results
in higher use of emergency service and other unnecessary costs to the healthcare system. Currently there are few
studies that have explored these challenges from primary care provider perspectives and very few to none from
patient perspectives. A novel collaborative implementation initiative in primary healthcare (PHC) is seeking to
improve primary medical care for the refugee population by creating a globally recommended transition or beacon
clinic to support care needs of new arrivals and transitions to primary care providers. We discuss the innovative
elements of the clinic model in this paper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graeme Kohler
- Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Timothy Holland
- Newcomer Health Clinic, Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Ashley Sharpe
- Newcomer Health Clinic, Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Mandi Irwin
- Newcomer Health Clinic, Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Tara Sampalli
- Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Kolten MacDonell
- Newcomer Health Clinic, Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Natalie Kidd
- Newcomer Health Clinic, Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Lynn Edwards
- Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Rick Gibson
- Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Amy Legate
- Newcomer Health Clinic, Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Ruth Ampi Kanakam
- Newcomer Health Clinic, Primary Health Care, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada
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