Limited English Proficiency Among Immigrants

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Limited English proficiency (LEP) is one of the potentially important factors that separate many immigrants and native born from social, economic, health and health behaviors and from many other dimensions. For immigrants who do not speak English well or at all, language barriers may contribute to health disparities by impeding health related communication. In the existing literature, analyses of the association between language barriers and immigrants’ health and health care behavior have received considerable attention. The literature on both the US and Canada generally finds that limited language-proficient immigrants tend to use the general medical care system less with potentially negative health effects (see for example Pippins et al.,

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