Local, population-based assessment of barriers to accessing health care and participation in disease screening among racial and ethnic minorities is limited, particularly for populations difficult to reach in conventional, English-only telephone surveys. This is especially true for ethnic subgroups usually aggregated in the Asian/Pacific Islander race category. In response to community requests for ethnic-specific data, Public Health - Seattle & King County conducted the Ethnicity and Health Survey, a random telephone survey stratified by seven of the largest ethnic communities in King County: African American, Latino/Hispanic, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. The instrument was modeled after CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance survey. Interviews could be conducted in one of six languages requested by participants.
Health care access and disease screening indicators varied widely by ethnicity among the 2,427 respondents. The percent of respondents without health insurance, for example, ranged from 6% among respondents of Japanese heritage to 37% among Latino respondents. Perceived discrimination when seeking health services was least frequently reported among respondents of Vietnamese heritage (7%) and most frequently reported among African Americans (32%). Disease screening measures, such as having a clinical breast exam and mammogram among women age 50 and older, ranged from 18% among women of Vietnamese heritage to 74% among African American women. We found significant associations between health insurance, discrimination when seeking health services, language, recent immigration and access to health services. We will discuss implications for improving access to health services and describe a community-based process for addressing racial discrimination in health services delivery.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to: 1) Identify major differences in access to care and timely use of disease screening measures among seven ethnic minority groups in King County; and 2) Understand the extent to which access to care and timely use of disease screening measures among seven ethnic minority groups in King County may be limited in association with low income status, lack of health insurance coverage, discrimination-experience, non-English fluency and recentness of immigration to the United States
Keywords: Access to Care, Ethnic Minorities
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.