Assessing the Health Needs and Barriers to Accessing Health Care in a Predominantly Latinx Immigrant Community in North Florida

Abstract

On average, the Latinx population in the US has a higher rate of being uninsured and faces numerous social determinants, such as lower educational attainment and lower income, which can impede access to healthcare services. In addition, the passage of recent targeted immigration policies in Florida raise concerns over a possible chilling effect on health services utilization in this population. While previous research has indicated higher prevalence of chronic diseases in the predominantly rural areas of North Florida, the health concerns and barriers to accessing care of Latinx immigrants in these regions have been largely understudied. The goal of this thesis is to understand the healthcare context of a Latinx immigrant population in North Florida by using programmatic data collected by the Rural Women’s Health Project (RWHP), a health justice nonprofit based in Gainesville, FL. One of RWHP’s programs, Project SALUD (PS), is a community-based patient navigation program active in three counties in North Florida which improves linkage to care for participants. This study examined the data collected on participant intake forms during the PS registration process and included demographic measures, as well as information on the participant’s greatest health concerns and barriers to accessing care. Chi-squared analyses were conducted using R Studio. The study demonstrated that PS has catered to a predominantly female population (75.6%) who are by and large working age adults, with a median age of 37. Participants most commonly list their region of origin as Mexico, followed by Central America. The overwhelming majority speak little to no English (87.0%) and are medically uninsured (87.2%). PS has been most commonly accessed to address a need for dental care (30.4%). In terms of differences by gender, female participants were more likely to indicate a need for cancer screening or general health when compared to males. Insurance status also generally increased by age as did English proficiency. Participants from Central America were significantly more likely to indicate that cost was a barrier to accessing healthcare. This data will enable RWHP to evaluate the impact of the program from 2016 to present and can serve as baseline data for future studies to longitudinally monitor the programmatic goals of PS. It may also guide PS to reach communities that were previously not participating in the program, offer more services tailored to specific needs, and collaborate with community partners to increase the accessibility of health care and social services to address health disparities in North Florida.