The Impact of Binational Barriers to Medical Care on the Care-Seeking Practices of Mexican Immigrants

Barriers to health care access faced by Mexican immigrants in the United States have been well-documented, including lack of insurance, fear of deportation, and language barriers. However, little is known about this population’s care-seeking experiences before migration. In this article, I use a lif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative health research 2021-05, Vol.31 (6), p.1043-1055
Main Author: Crocker, Rebecca M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Cultural competence
Deportation
Ethnographic research
Health behavior
Health care access
Health insurance
Health services utilization
Health technology assessment
Help seeking behavior
Hispanic people
Immigrants
Life experiences
Migration
Noncitizens
Qualitative research
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Summary:Barriers to health care access faced by Mexican immigrants in the United States have been well-documented, including lack of insurance, fear of deportation, and language barriers. However, little is known about this population’s care-seeking experiences before migration. In this article, I use a life-course approach to explore binational isolation from health care and the ways in which early-life experiences pattern Mexicans’ care-seeking practices in the United States. This ethnographic research project took place in Tucson, Arizona, between 2013 and 2014 and used semistructured interviews with service providers and first-generation Mexican immigrants. The majority of participants faced significant barriers to medical care in Mexico, which resulted in low rates of care utilization and heavy reliance on lay modalities. Immigrants faced an even broader array of barriers to care in the United States, and their lack of prior health care access further discouraged care utilization and compromised their medical care experiences after migration.
ISSN:1049-7323
1552-7557
DOI:10.1177/1049732321992041