Cultural and religious barriers were the main reasons that afro Caribbean immigrants’ delayed access to care, which led to late diagnosis for illnesses such as cancer and HIV. Studies included in this review almost unanimously agree that future health studies and in-practice efforts aimed at improving healthcare access for afro Caribbean immigrants must be culturally competent. That is, they must be designed to meet ‘‘a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations’’. Competency regarding the core healing beliefs of the Caribbean is particularly important, and is a central component to addressing healthcare barriers.
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Community health workers and medical staff should not attempt to minimize beliefs in traditional medicine, instead they should work with the Caribbean communities to provide culturally competent community-based care. Such solutions include encouraging collaborative efforts between community health workers and medical staff to identify common beliefs and practices, providing neighborhood medical facilities where the majority of the patients know each other and can become comfortable enough with staff from the community to openly discuss non-Western practices, and training medical staff members to treat all patients whether or not the latter believe in traditional medicine. Hruschka indicates that an afro Caribbean may feel disrespected by medical staff who disregard their belief in traditional medicine; therefore, efforts must be made to ensure that both the patients and the medical staff are competent to address the medial needs of the former.
Immigrant status constitutes an important barrier to health care for undocumented immigrants. Nonetheless, regardless of specific immigrant status, research has shown that the immigration process itself has some stressor effect on health, which might be correlated with access to quality health care. Another stressor is perceptions on the part of patients that staff members assume that …show more content…
Afro Caribbean immigrants, with or without legal documentation, are likely to face discrimination based not only on skin color, but also on accent, immigrant status and socio-economic status, as well as other factors. Immigrants with accents might face challenges accessing quality health care because of communication problems that undermine efforts to create a good patient–doctor relationship. Thus, discrimination and the treatment associated with it places afro Caribbean immigrants at a disadvantage and may mean they avoid the healthcare system for this reason. Moreover, immigrants with stigmatized ailments such as HIV/AIDS and mental disorders are dissuaded from seeking healthcare services because they fear losing their jobs, being separated from significant others, and in even being deported. Stigma, defined as a label placed on individuals who are perceived as ‘‘different,’’ may also lead to experiences of discrimination and social exclusion and can affect whether and how afro Caribbean immigrants use medical services. For example, the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS discourages afro Caribbean immigrants from being tested for HIV. The effects of this could be that not only do those who need treatment
Community health workers and medical staff should not attempt to minimize beliefs in traditional medicine, instead they should work with the Caribbean communities to provide culturally competent community-based care. Such solutions include encouraging collaborative efforts between community health workers and medical staff to identify common beliefs and practices, providing neighborhood medical facilities where the majority of the patients know each other and can become comfortable enough with staff from the community to openly discuss non-Western practices, and training medical staff members to treat all patients whether or not the latter believe in traditional medicine. Hruschka indicates that an afro Caribbean may feel disrespected by medical staff who disregard their belief in traditional medicine; therefore, efforts must be made to ensure that both the patients and the medical staff are competent to address the medial needs of the former.
Immigrant status constitutes an important barrier to health care for undocumented immigrants. Nonetheless, regardless of specific immigrant status, research has shown that the immigration process itself has some stressor effect on health, which might be correlated with access to quality health care. Another stressor is perceptions on the part of patients that staff members assume that …show more content…
Afro Caribbean immigrants, with or without legal documentation, are likely to face discrimination based not only on skin color, but also on accent, immigrant status and socio-economic status, as well as other factors. Immigrants with accents might face challenges accessing quality health care because of communication problems that undermine efforts to create a good patient–doctor relationship. Thus, discrimination and the treatment associated with it places afro Caribbean immigrants at a disadvantage and may mean they avoid the healthcare system for this reason. Moreover, immigrants with stigmatized ailments such as HIV/AIDS and mental disorders are dissuaded from seeking healthcare services because they fear losing their jobs, being separated from significant others, and in even being deported. Stigma, defined as a label placed on individuals who are perceived as ‘‘different,’’ may also lead to experiences of discrimination and social exclusion and can affect whether and how afro Caribbean immigrants use medical services. For example, the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS discourages afro Caribbean immigrants from being tested for HIV. The effects of this could be that not only do those who need treatment