RESUMO
Transnational cultural health capital (CHC) includes individual resources such as skills and behaviors patients use to manage healthcare exclusion and negotiate care. This study examines the impact of CHC on decisions by Hispanic people who live in El Paso, Texas, to utilize one or more markets for healthcare. We expand on the current literature and present novel findings by quantifying several aspects of CHC that may contribute to cross-border health-seeking behaviors in this vulnerable group which tends to suffer various health disparities and limited access to health insurance. Results support the hypotheses related to how the various cultural, social, and economic resources that comprise CHC affect market choices. This research has significant implications for understanding how border residents may mitigate a lack of accessibility and affordability for healthcare, developing transnational health policy, and aiding healthcare providers to understand their patients' choice(s) of healthcare markets.
Assuntos
Atenção à Saúde , Hispânico ou Latino , Humanos , Comportamentos Relacionados com a Saúde , TexasRESUMO
Immigrant generation status has an impact on substance use, with lower use rates for recent immigrants. Substance use surveillance data are reported at the national and state levels; however, no systematic collection of data exists at the city level for the general population. In particular, rates of substance use have not been published for El Paso, Texas. The aims of this study are to estimate the prevalence of substance use among Hispanics in El Paso and to determine the association between substance use and immigrant generation. Hispanic residents of El Paso (N = 837) were interviewed. Demographic, immigration, and substance use data were collected. Bivariate analysis indicated that substance use increased as immigrant generation increased, while perceived problems with substance use decreased. In comparison to Texas and national data, our data showed that the rates of tobacco, marijuana, and illicit drug use were lower among young adults in El Paso.
Assuntos
Emigrantes e Imigrantes/estatística & dados numéricos , Hispânico ou Latino/estatística & dados numéricos , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/etnologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Fatores Sexuais , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Texas/epidemiologia , Imigrantes Indocumentados/estatística & dados numéricos , Adulto JovemRESUMO
In this paper we highlight results from our recent survey of public housing residents living in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Our data inform our interdisciplinary (public health, education, environmental engineering, sociology) efforts to improve health and educational equity in our community, and provide ripe opportunities for policy advocacy.