271053 “Echar una mano”: Social Networks and overcoming barriers to clinical care among Latino migrant seafood-processing workers in North Carolina

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Leah Gordon , Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Clare Barrington, PhD, MPH , Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Introduction: Given the lack of data on Latino H2-B migrants in the seafood-processing industry, farmworker organizations and health departments are unable to adequately serve this community. This study aimed to conduct formative qualitative research exploring the utilization of US medical services and barriers to accessing care among Latino seafood-processing workers in Eastern North Carolina. The author examined workers' social networks to identify strategies for future health outreach activities. Methods: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 migrant seafood-processing workers in Eastern North Carolina by the researcher during 2011. Theoretical sampling was used to capture a range of work experience. Interviews were transcribed by native Spanish speakers and coded by the researcher. An inductive analytical approach was used to identify emergent themes around workers' experience with the US health care system. Results: Workers attempt to manage acute and chronic conditions while working in the US. Obstacles to accessing health care include transportation, interpretation, and lack of knowledge about clinic locations and hours. Analysis revealed how workers use combinations of formal and informal networks, including their employer, other workers, permanent Latino residents, and family in Mexico, to overcome barriers and obtain clinical care. Discussion: Workers' social networks are dynamic and depend on the physical and social context in which they live. There are limitations to each network and workers have strong preferences for how they draw social support from networks to obtain care. Workers' pre-existing social networks are a leverage point for health-related organizations seeking to increase clinical access among this population.

Learning Areas:
Occupational health and safety
Provision of health care to the public
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe three barriers to clinical care facing migrant seafood processing workers in North Carolina. 2. Identify three social networks through which migrant seafood processing workers in North Carolina are able to successfully obtain clinical care.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Migrant Workers

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a second-year Masters of Public Health students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have four years of experience working with Latino health both abroad and domestically. I personally collected and analysed all the data in the study I am submitting an abstract for.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.