| Description |
The purpose of this urban mini-ethnographic qualitative study was to examine Mexicana/o symptom interpretation and management utilizing the Common Sense Model of Illness Representation as a guiding framework. Latina/os are a growing part of the population in the United States and are estimated to comprise 25% of the total population by the year 2050. The Latina/o population is diverse. Mexicana/os represent 68% of the Latina/o population in Utah. Despite growing numbers of Latina/os living within the borders of the United States, little work has been conducted that addresses the healthcare needs of this population. Research to date has focused on issues of health status, utilization of health promotion and disease prevention services, barriers to healthcare, and explication of culture-based syndromes. In addition, little work has been performed to assess the interpretation and management of common symptoms. Multiple methods of data collection were used, including meetings with key informants, interviews with participants, participant observations, photography, literature, documents, and artifacts. Immersion into the data and the development of a coding scheme were the initial steps in data analysis. Data management was accomplished with the assistance of QSR NUD*IST4©. The Common Sense Model guided the research process. Participants told complex stories of symptom interpretation, with cost of healthcare emerging as the overall theme affecting decisions regarding management of the symptoms they selected. Although I initially believed that culture would play a much larger role in how the participants addressed their symptoms, cost was an even greater issue. Poverty may be a factor affecting healthcare and access to healthcare that is even more important than culture. Further inquiry is warranted. However, clinical practice will be enhanced through an understanding of the illness representation and decision-making processes of the participants. Culture is an important factor affecting specific ways in which participants address a particular symptom. What may be considered by clinicians to be noncompliant behavior may be implementation of self-care modalities prior to entering the conventional healthcare system or following ineffective treatment by the conventional healthcare system-decisions influenced by the cost of healthcare services. |
