Latinos healthcare needs unmet

Study finds unmet healthcare needs among Latinos in county
Caring for an Invisible Population: The Healthcare Needs of Latinos in Saratoga County
Skidmore Edu.

Overview
This project was a collaboration between the Latino Community Advocacy Program of the SCEOC and the Social Work Program at Skidmore College. Researchers gathered data over a period of six months through multiple choice surveys and semi-structured interviews conducted in Spanish. In total, seven Latino individuals were interviewed and 60 participated in the survey.

Findings
The data clearly show that Latinos in Saratoga County have many unmet healthcare needs:

-95 percent of the sample would like to see a doctor more frequently.

-Most have never seen a doctor in Saratoga County (71 percent).

-81.7 percent have no health insurance or medical benefits.

-Only 13.5 percent of those with a chronic condition have received appropriate care.

Several important themes also emerged from the qualitative interviews:

The prohibitive cost of care

“It’s terrible because you don’t know what you have or what awaits. It could be cysts, I don’t know but it could be something. They told me they were going to do another ultrasound and…it was going to cost like $800. I decided that as long as I could keep walking and with a little bit of
health, I could keep on going.”

The importance of communication

“[At the hospital] I couldn’t talk and I barley ate. There was food there but because I didn’t know how to say it, I couldn’t ask for it. I only ate bread and milk once a day and I had just given birth.”

Lack of transportation

“The baby had a cough that didn’t go away. Sometimes he got colds and he needed to go to the doctor...we had to find transportation and we had to cancel appointments. So the baby wasn’t well taken care of because of the lack of transportation. He didn’t even have a pediatrician…[We had to send him to live with his grandparents] in Mexico because everything is closer, and because we could explain the situation to the doctor.”

Suggestions for improvement

“I don’t think it’s very good [telephone interpretation] because you can’t talk properly…maybe they speak some other kind of Spanish but I don’t know why they don’t understand it. I feel that it’s better with a person but there are very few people that speak Spanish in Hospitals.”

Implications for Service Providers
Our findings demonstrate that Latinos in Saratoga County face many barriers to healthcare access. Table 1 illustrates the most prevalent barriers to access:

Table 1.
BARRIER TO SEEKING MEDICAL CARE–PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS WHO ARE RESTRICTED BY BARRIER
Cost 43.3 percent (n=26)
Language barrier 41.7 percent (n=25)
I don’t know where to go 40.0 percent (n=24)
Transportation 30.0 percent (n=18)

The results also provide a framework for improving and expanding services. Table 2 shows the most frequently requested services:

Table 2.
SERVICES–PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS REQUESTING SERVICES
Dental 76.7 percent (n=46)
Physical Exam 66.7 percent (n=40)
Vision 46.7 percent (n=28)
AIDS STD 33.3 percent (n=20)
Diet 30.0 percent (n=18)
Respiratory 28.3 percent (n=17)
Diabetes 25.0 percent (n=15)
Family Plan/ Contraceptive 23.3 percent (n=14)
Pediatrics 21.7 percent (n=13)
Heart 21.7 percent (n=13)

Conclusion
The results of this study clearly demonstrate the unmet medical needs of the Latino population in Saratoga County. While this study focused on Latinos, none of the most prominent barriers to access are necessarily unique to Spanish-speakers. It is likely that factors such as the cost of care, transportation, the language barrier and not knowing where to get care affect the healthcare access of immigrants in general. Considering that immigrants contribute $229 billion annually to New York States economy (Fiscal Policy Institute, 2008), their health should be a priority for all New Yorkers.

For more information contact: k.nowhitney@saratogaeoc.org or peter.s.brock@gmail.com