Perceptions of community characteristics and health among a population of Latino male immigrants in North Carolina

Individuals’ communities have profound effects on their health outcomes. We aimed to understand how Latino immigrant men in North Carolina, a new settlement area, perceive their community and their ability to meet their health care needs within available community resources. We conducted three focus groups with 30 Latino male immigrants and conducted a photovoice project with five men from the same population.  We analyzed transcript data from focus groups and discussions of photos from the photovoice project.  Data were analyzed using thematic coding and analytic summaries to identify key themes.  We found that men describe both discrimination and assistance from different non-Latino community members and institutions. Men perceived the broader community as divided along racial/class lines and perceived the Latino community as fragmented by country/region of origin. Significant barriers to Latino community cohesiveness were geographic dispersion, state/federal policies, and targeted immigration law enforcement. Additionally, men reported a lack of leadership and organization among Latino community members. These perceptions of discrimination and fragmentation affected their ability to utilize existing health services; they also perceived that most social services targeting Latinos are only for women/children. Men dealt with health problems by resorting to drinking, sex with sex workers, self-medicating, or visiting unlicensed doctors outside the formal health system.  Findings indicate that health promotion with Latino immigrants in new settlement areas could benefit from community-building activities, addressing discrimination, augmenting the reach of formal health care, and building upon the informal mechanisms that immigrants rely on to meet their health needs.