Identifying issues of public health for Latinos in a New Orleans faith base setting

Background: One of the largest and noted disasters in US history was Hurricane Katrina has resulted in shifts in population and public health needs of its community. A noted change is in its immerging Latino population. This is a national trend and New Orleans in its reconstruction has also followed. According to the U.S. Census of Bureau, more than 60,544 Latinos reside in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. Research in this population has been meager or non-existent especially in public health issues. Faith based organizations have allowed for research to be conducted to focus on the needs and issues concerning this community. Understanding the barriers and issues of accessing necessary health care for the Latino community is important for developing policies to help reduce disparities in access and health outcomes. Method: In collaboration with several community stakeholders, researchers analyze and synthesize results from mixed methods, focus group and health survey, to explore this population's public health concern. Focus groups were formed and interviewed at a Spanish church and Latino Health Survey was conducted at a Spanish church and English as second language (ESL) classes. Results and conclusions: Preliminary results indicate that Latinos who moved to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina are less likely to have a physician visit in the last 12 months compared to their counterparts and more than 73% of do not have health insurance coverage regardless their immigration status. Barriers of public health concern were identified as they included accessing health care.