Social Work Commons^™

Care Of Acute Conditions And Chronic Diseases In Canada And The United States: Rapid Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Keren M. Escobar, Dorian Murariu, Sharon Munro, Kevin M. Gorey

Social Work Publications

This study tested the hypothesis that socioeconomically vulnerable Canadians with diverse acute conditions or chronic diseases have health care access and survival advantages over their counterparts in the USA. A rapid systematic review retrieved 25 studies (34 independent cohorts) published between 2003 and 2018. They were synthesized with a streamlined meta-analysis. Very low-income Canadian patients were consistently and highly advantaged in terms of health care access and survival compared with their counterparts in the USA who lived in poverty and/or were uninsured or underinsured. In aggregate and controlling for specific conditions or diseases and typically 4 to 9 comorbid factors …

Multiplicative Advantages Of Hispanic Men Living In Hispanic Enclaves: Intersectionality In Colon Cancer Care: A Research Note, Keren M. Escobar, Mollie Sivaram, Kevin M. Gorey

Social Work Publications

We examined Hispanic enclave paradoxical effects on cancer care among socioeconomically vulnerable people in pre-Obamacare California. We conducted a secondary analysis of a historical cohort of 511 Hispanic and 1,753 non-Hispanic white people with colon cancer. Hispanic enclaves were neighborhoods where 40% or more of the residents were Hispanic, mostly first-generation Mexican American immigrants. An interaction of ethnicity, gender, and Hispanic enclave status was observed such that the protective effects of living in a Hispanic enclave were larger for Hispanic men, particularly married Hispanic men, than women. Risks were also exposed among other study groups: the poor, the inadequately insured, …

Breast Cancer Care In California And Ontario: Primary Care Protections Greatest Among The Most Socioeconomically Vulnerable Women Living In The Most Underserved Places, Kevin M. Gorey, Caroline Hamm, Isaac N. Luginaah, Guangyong Zou, Eric J. Holowaty

Social Work Publications

Background: Better health care among Canada’s socioeconomically vulnerable versus America’s has not been fully explained. We examined the effects of poverty, health insurance and the supply of primary care physicians on breast cancer care. Methods: We analyzed breast cancer data in Ontario (n = 950) and California (n = 6300) between 1996 and 2000 and followed until 2014. We obtained socioeconomic data from censuses, oversampling the poor. We obtained data on the supply of physicians, primary care and specialists. The optimal care criterion was being diagnosed early with node negative disease and received breast conserving surgery followed by adjuvant radiation …

Profound Barriers To Basic Cancer Care Most Notably Experienced By Uninsured Women: Historical Note On The Present Policy Considerations, Amy M. Alberton, Kevin M. Gorey

Social Work Publications

America is considering the replacement of Obamacare with Trumpcare. This historical cohort revisited pre-Obamacare colon cancer care among people living in poverty in California (N = 5,776). It affirmed a gender by health insurance hypothesis on nonreceipt of surgery such that uninsured women were at greater risk than uninsured men. Uninsured women were three times as likely as insured women to be denied access to such basic care. Similar men were two times as likely. America is bound to repeat such profound health care inequities if Obamacare is repealed. Instead, Obamacare ought to be retained and strengthened in all states, …

Gender Differences On The Interacting Effects Of Marital Status And Health Insurance On Long-Term Colon Cancer Survival In California, 1995-2014, Derek Campbell, Kevin M. Gorey, Isaac N. Luginaah, Guangyong Zou, Caroline Hamm, Eric J. Holowaty

Social Work Publications

Objectives. Long-term colon cancer survival is not well explained by main effects. We explored the interaction of age, gender, marital status, health insurance and poverty on 10-year colon cancer survival.

Methods. California registry data were analyzed for 5,776 people diagnosed from 1995 to 2000; followed until 2014. Census data classified neighborhood poverty. We tested interactions with regressions and described them with standardized rates and rate ratios (RR).

Results. The 5-way interaction was significant, suggesting larger 4-way disadvantages among non-Medicare-eligible people. A significant 4-way interaction was a 3-way interaction in non-high poverty neighborhoods only. Private insurance was protective for unmarried …

Breast Cancer Among Women Living In Poverty: Better Care In Canada Than In The United States, Kevin M. Gorey, Nancy L. Richter, Isaac N. Luginaah, Caroline Hamm, Eric J. Holowaty, Guangyong Zou, Madhan K. Balagurusamy

Social Work Publications

This historical study estimated the protective effects of a universally accessible, single-payer health care system versus a multipayer system that leaves many uninsured or underinsured by comparing breast cancer care of women living in high-poverty neighborhoods in Ontario and California between 1996 and 2011. Women in Canada experienced better care, particularly as compared with women who were inadequately insured in the United States. Women in Canada were diagnosed earlier (rate ratio [RR] = 1.12) and enjoyed better access to breast conserving surgery (RR = 1.48), radiation (RR = 1.60), and hormone therapies (RR = 1.78). Women living in high-poverty Canadian …

Better Colon Cancer Care For Extremely Poor Canadian Women Compared With American Women, Kevin M. Gorey, Isaac N. Luginaah, Emma Bartfay, Guangyong Zou, Sundus Haji-Jama, Eric J. Holowaty, Caroline Hamm, Sindu M. Kanjeekal, Fraces C. Wright, Madhan K. Balagurusamy, Nancy L. Richter

Social Work Publications

Extremely poor Canadian women were recently observed to be largely advantaged on most aspects of breast cancer care as compared with similarly poor, but much less adequately insured, women in the United States. This historical study systematically replicated the protective effects of single- versus multipayer health care by comparing colon cancer care among cohorts of extremely poor women in California and Ontario between 1996 and 2011. The Canadian women were again observed to have been largely advantaged. They were more likely to have received indicated surgery and chemotherapy, and their wait times for care were significantly shorter. Consequently, the Canadian …