Barriers to health care facing the South Asian population in Dallas, Texas

Immigrants from South Asia are the second largest immigrant group in the US. In comparison with US born counterparts, they have lower rates of health insurance, use less care, and receive lower quality of care. For many, socioeconomic and immigration status, cultural barriers, lack of knowledge and fear of the health system are barriers to positive health outcomes.

This study intends to describe the perceptions, attitudes and barriers of South Asians living in Dallas regarding their experience with the US health care system.

Results will inform strategies to improve health care access and experience.

Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from immigrant and non-immigrant South Asians age 18 or above attending community centers in Dallas.

Fifty seven surveys were analyzed for preliminary findings. About 53% of the participants were female, mean age 38, 84% are college graduates, 25% of them had no health insurance coverage. Fifty one percent have seen a doctor in the past 1 year, 15% of them visited the emergency room and 81% used private clinics. The majority (83%) did not know about the local Public Hospital Health Plan, and half of them did not know about Medicaid. About 30% reported skipping their office visits due to costs but overall, cultural factors such as language, gender of doctor, religion, time or transportation issues did not impact their decision to skip visits.

Better understanding of the US Health System will improve their ability to navigate it.

Trends indicate that cultural factors might be associated with health care utilization.