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Discrimination and Health Among Taxi Drivers in New York and Toronto

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Abstract

Immigrant taxi drivers in metropolitan cities are exposed to experiences of discrimination and occupation-based health risks. Given the structural differences in health care systems in the United States and Canada, we investigated the differences in reports of discrimination, health conditions and concern about health conditions between taxi drivers in New York City and Toronto, Ontario. Participants were recruited for a taxi driver Needs Assessment Survey as part of a Taxi Network needs assessment project using a street side convenience sampling technique in New York City and Toronto. The matched sample contained 33 drivers from Toronto and 33 drivers from NYC. All Toronto drivers in our sample reported having health insurance while over a quarter of NYC drivers did not have health insurance. Toronto drivers reported greater everyday and workplace discrimination. Drivers in both cities experienced higher rates than average, and reported concern about, major health conditions. We also found preliminary evidence suggesting a relationship between experiencing discrimination and reporting chronic pain. Our findings suggest the need for future research to more closely examine the associations between discrimination and health among the taxi driver population.

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Funding

Funding was provided by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (US) (Grant No. R24 MD008058), National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (Grant No. U01 MD010648), National Institute of Nursing Research (US) (Grant No. R01 NR015265), and National Cancer Institute (Grant Nos. T32 CA009461, P30 CA008748, U54 CA137788)

Author information

Author notes

  1. Sheena Mirpuri

    Present address: Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, 401B Runme Shaw Building, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong

  2. Alex Ocampo

    Present address: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    Sheena Mirpuri, Alex Ocampo, Nicole Roberts, Bharat Narang & Francesca Gany

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Pavan Gill

  3. Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada

    Stephen W. Hwang

  4. Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Stephen W. Hwang

Authors
  1. Sheena Mirpuri
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  2. Pavan Gill
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  7. Francesca Gany
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Sheena Mirpuri or Francesca Gany.

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Mirpuri, S., Gill, P., Ocampo, A. et al. Discrimination and Health Among Taxi Drivers in New York and Toronto. J Community Health 43, 667–672 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0466-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0466-4

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