4138.0: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 - Board 9

Abstract #6302

Listening to Latino Medicaid Consumers' Health Care Experiences in Massachusetts: Public Health Recommendations

Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, Graduate College of Education, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Bvld, Boston, MA 02125, 617 287 7631, Gonzalo.bacigalupe@umb.edu

This paper addresses the policy implications of a comparative secondary data analysis of Medicaid records and qualitative data—in depth interviews and focus groups with Latinos in Massachusetts. The author analyzes the relevance of family and immigration experiences, language, and bicultural themes, for their implications for preventive and palliative care. When Latinos are insured, barriers and enablers to health access intersect with a commitment of families to obtain adequate health care services. For example, the quantitative data reflected a less use of emergency services, and less visits for primary care by Latinos in comparison to other racial/ethnic groups. From a policy perspective, it is important to discriminate if this reduced rate is due to adequate use of preventive care and/or if the barriers to access and lack of culturally appropriate services preclude Latinos from utilizing emergency care. Our data, however, suggests that the Latinos who use the emergency room stay hospitalized for a longer period of time than other groups—implying they are sicker and therefore less well served through primary and preventive care. The study also explores how participation of formal and non-formal institutions—popular pharmacies (boticas), hairdressers, churches, and food stores (bodegas)—contribute to and /or restrict access to health care through the formal health care system. Finally, the paper focuses on the importance of what Latino consumers define as a respectful and caring relationship in the health care context and what types of institutional policies and approaches may address these needs.

Learning Objectives: 1. Faulty will analyse the policy implications of data that the Mas Salud Project obtained in a study of Latino Medicaid consumers. 2. Faculty will explore the potential interactions between formal and non-formal institutions in enhancing and restricting access and quality of health for Latinos. 3. Faculty will present data to discriminate the reasons for decreased acces to the emergency room by Latinos and the challenges of providing appropriate child health care

Keywords: Public Health Policy, Hispanic

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.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA