Receptionists, doctors, and social workers: Examining undocumented immigrant women's perceptions of health services

Amada Armenta and Heidy Sarabia

Social Science & Medicine, 2020, vol. 246, issue C

Abstract: In this paper, we examine the attitudes, experiences, and perceptions of health care among unauthorized immigrant women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Research on health care utilization among undocumented immigrants usually focuses on barriers to securing health care access, but little attention has been paid to how these barriers shape patients' experiences. Patients' experiences are important because they affect persistence in care seeking, adherence to treatment regimens, and self-reported health. Drawing from interviews with undocumented Mexican women, we find that receptionists, staff, and social workers play an important role in shaping women's perceptions of health care. In contrast to previous research which finds that negative experiences with providers lead undocumented immigrants to withdraw from seeking medical services, without fail, our respondents persisted and sought care elsewhere. This strategy ensured that all women eventually found care with which they were satisfied, but sometimes after significant delays.

Keywords: United States; Undocumented immigrants; Women; Latinos; Health care; Perceptions; Health care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620300071
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:246:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620300071

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112788

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().