Health Care Use and Barriers to Care among Latino Immigrants in a New Migration Area

Unlike regions with larger Latino populations, the health care infrastructure in Cincinnati does not include linguistically and culturally appropriate services to meet the need of the growing Latino immigrant community. In order to guide development of appropriate health care services, a team of academic and community researchers collaborated on a community-based participatory research project to understand health care use, barriers to health care, perceptions of health care, and health care needs of Latino immigrants. Co-researchers administered 518 surveys and conducted focus groups with 34 Latino immigrants. Participants relied on community clinics for care more often than is seen in nationwide Hispanic samples. Results revealed significant health care barriers, which Latino immigrants attribute to language, lack of quality interpreters, documentation status, and discrimination. Results suggest that the dearth of established social support networks and health care infrastructure in new Latino growth areas exacerbate the health care obstacles experienced by Latino immigrants throughout the country.