Book Description

The population of Hispanic patients served by those in the Allied Health fields is rapidly growing, especially the population of recent Hispanic immigrants. Those in management of health care delivery will provide better services if armed with an understanding of Hispanic perceptions of such services. This study investigated the perceptions of recent Hispanic immigrants to the Columbus, Ohio area, regarding health, legal and social services, as well as their opinions on certain assumptions made about their community by service organizations. The study also aimed to gather information about how organizations could effectively market their services to this population. The problem was two-fold. First, the network of service organizations geared toward Hispanics of Columbus, Ohio was largely disjointed and not working together to maximize resources. Second, it was unclear whether or not assumptions about the Hispanic community were driving policy decisions, and so it seemed important to know how Hispanics felt about these assumptions. A sample of fifteen recent Hispanic immigrants were referred to the study by community contacts in three different areas of Columbus. The contacts already had established relationships with the subjects. Each subject was interviewed, one-to-one, with the help of a Spanish-speaking interpreter, and the results transcribed into English for analysis. Subjects were generally well aware of available services, or at least of contact persons who could refer them to services, especially on the West side of the city where organizations have focused outreach efforts. Awareness of available medical services was better than awareness of legal services, and most subjects discussed job placement assistance when asked about social services. All subjects expressed a clear desire to improve their English skills. Regarding effective marketing strategies for service organizations, the subjects indicated that the use of flyers in apartment rental offices, and neighborhood Hispanic stores, along with the use of direct mail and local Spanish newspapers, would be effective. An overriding theme of responses was the importance of service organizations offering sincere and personal service, and so several recommendations suggested ways that an organization could create an atmosphere of formal yet friendly cultural competence. Only one of the assumptions researched was invalidated. The responses to the interview questions indicated that the subject did consider preventive health care important, but that barriers such as lack of financial resources, and the inability to speak English, often prevented them from seeking the care of a physician. The other three assumptions were validated by the responses. The subjects indicated that they felt most recent Hispanic immigrants do use home remedies to self-medicate. The subjects also indicated that they felt most recent Hispanic immigrants hold more than one job, and get information via word-of- mouth. Several recommendations about policy and service delivery decisions were made to service organizations based on the results concerning these assumptions. Because so many factors affect a sub-population's perceptions of available services, and therefore its use of those services, several topics of inquiry were included in this thesis, and not just perceptions of health care services specifically.