Minding the gaps: Health care access for foreign-born people in the U.S.: An integrative review

Background. Foreign-born people encounter disproportionate health care access barriers compared with U.S.-born adults. Few studies in the past decade have examined how characteristics of foreign-born people influence access to health care. Methods. An integrative review regarding health care access for foreign-born people was conducted using Whittemore and Knafl’s framework. Andersen’s behavioral model of health care utilization was used to explain the findings. We searched electronic databases and identified 33 peer-reviewed papers for inclusion. Results. The reviewed articles represented a broad spectrum of research evaluating health care access. Barriers to health care access for foreign-born people are multifactorial and driven by insurance status, citizenship, immigration status, and English language proficiency. Conclusion. Future research must comprehensively examine the unmet health needs and predictors of access among foreign-born people.