Vaccinations of Children from Im/migrant Families in Alberta: Equity-Oriented Critical Policy Analysis
Creators: Sana, Samina Arif 
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2022

<p>Immigrant and refugee (im/migrant) families settled in Alberta (AB) are often challenged to overcome structural barriers (i.e., accent discrimination, English as a foreign language, culture shock) in the way of navigating and actively utilizing vaccination services. Research is scarce on the impact of childhood vaccination policies on the vaccinations of children of im/migrants in Alberta. The objective of this study was to use an intersectionality-based evaluation framework, inclusive of health equity principles, to critically analyze and investigate current Alberta jurisdictional (AJ) childhood vaccination policies and policy guidance. More specifically, the focus of this research was to examine equity considerations in the policies as it relates to the vaccination of immigrant/migrant children. This critical policy analysis inquired and sought to find out to what extent vaccination of children of im/migrants are equitably accounted for in the Alberta context. Relevant sources on Alberta childhood vaccination policies and policy guidance were retrieved from the Government of Alberta (GoA) and the Government of Canada (GoC) websites. Initial and retroactive searches, within a fifteen (15) year range, led to the content analysis of a total of twenty-five (25) eligible GoA and GoC-AJ document(s) using an intersectionality-based health equity lens (acknowledgment of impact of immigration status and race/ethnicity on health). Each of the documents were selected by systematically reviewing and assessing their content for the existence or absence of twelve (12) evidence-based policy determinants (criteria): nine (9) standard policy determinants (Mahimbo et al., 2017a) and three (3) health equity-oriented policy determinants (Douglas et al., 2019; Hankivsky et al., 2014). Drawing on the overall results of the twenty-five (25) critically analyzed policy document sources, it was found that only a few of the policies and policy guidance alluded to the existence of children of im/migrants and only in the context of traveling and migration. All of the childhood vaccination policies and policy guidance were found to lack acknowledgement of the existence of structural factors (i.e., barriers to access) influencing access to vaccination services by children of im/migrants, with no detection of applied evidence from health equity and intersectionality scholars. Redesigned policy actions should consider the ethnocultural diversity of childhood vaccination needs in Alberta. Considering the insufficient promotion of vaccine equity, pragmatic suggestions for policy improvement may include streamlining the transition of policies from static to adaptive in design across all childhood vaccination policies. These policies need to inclusively and ongoingly adjust and transform to promote and serve the vaccination needs of new flows of children of im/migrants settling in Alberta. Further suggestions include increasing bipartisan community partnerships with im/migrant parent stakeholders, embedding contextually tailored care in the policy interventions to boost interprofessional collaborations on childhood vaccination of children of im/migrants, and weaving accountability-based anti-oppression allyship in and across policies. The findings of this study urge that this at-risk subgroup (children of im/migrants) become equitably prioritized and that their diverse cross-cultural needs be inclusively addressed in all Alberta childhood vaccination policies. </p>