309574
Health information for medically underserved Hispanic women: From the providers' perspective
This qualitative study explored health care providers’ experiences of providing health care information to medically underserved Hispanic women at free or Federally Qualified Healthcare Clinics (FQHC).
Methods
Eight semi structured interviews were conducted with health care providers, which included two nurse practitioners (NPs), one Physician Assistant, two clinic managers, one licensed practical nurse (LPN), one social worker, and one health outreach program manager. The interviews were audio-recorded, and ranged from 25 to 35 minutes. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using Atlas-ti. Deductive codes were identified using the interview guide and defined in the codebook.
Results
Providers cited language barriers, basic health literacy, low education levels, and navigating the healthcare system as the most pertinent challenges to providing healthcare information to patients. Hispanic cultural characteristics were mentioned as both strengths and challenges. One-on-one discussions were cited as the most effective method to deliver information. Providers also mentioned the usefulness of pictorial handouts to circumvent illiteracy.
Conclusions
The “one size fits all” approach to healthcare information does not address health disparities within this population. Future research should analyze the healthcare needs among different ethnic groups within the Hispanic culture, rather than treating Latinos as one homogenous group. Health literacy, both of the self and system, should be the focal point of providers, particularly for women. However, medical providers do not usually have the time or resources to do this. Bilingual and bicultural health educators, social workers and patient navigators have the necessary skills and time to customize healthcare information.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programsAdministration, management, leadership
Diversity and culture
Public health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Explain the challenges and successes of providing healthcare information to medically under-served Hispanic women.
Keyword(s): Immigrant Health, Latinos
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a first year PhD student at the University of South Florida and my research interests lie in the Hispanic population and access to healthcare. Previously, I was the administrator of a free clinic, which is why I am interested in this population.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.