Unequal Care, Enduring Consequences: Lived Experiences of Health In Under Resourced Latine Communities

Imagining healthcare from a social justice perspective suggests the state has the duty of equal care and to implement fair procedures that would protect the interests of the vulnerable. In such a context, all individuals, including those at the margins of society, would experience the capacity to achieve their preferred well-being. However, in a capitalistic, market-oriented society, market incentives in healthcare result in unequal outcomes, especially marginalized populations. Exploring the lived experiences of populations more vulnerable to disproportionate health outcomes allows researchers to identify limitations in profit-centered health systems. Reimagining healthcare in the United States should be informed by the needs of this population. Latine adults are the fastest growing population in the United States. The current research aims to describe the experiences of populations with chronic illness managing their health and well-being in under-resourced communities.

The current qualitative research completed in the South Texas-Mexico Border region focuses on the lived experiences of Latine adults in the United States. Researchers collaborated with community agencies to identify participants. Participants (n = 32) included adults aged 18 and older, living in South Texas, and who were willing to share their experiences managing their health care. Most participants identified as married (n = 20) women (n = 19) and had a mean age of 46 (SD 12.5). Recorded focus groups were facilitated in English and Spanish and transcribed verbatim. Bilingual and monolingual researchers used reflexive thematic analysis to code and identify patterns in the data.

Three themes were identified:1) Complexity of Experiences outlines the constraints and consequences of navigating standardized health systems not equipped to meet individualized needs; 2) Gendered Experiences of Caregiving and Decision Making emphasize systems and policies creating disproportionate responsibilities experienced by women; 3) Normalization of Inequities highlights how prolonged exposure desensitizes individuals to inadequate care. Research should move towards theory-building and intervention development addressing policy and structural design. Leveraging data equity in collaboration with community leaders, policy actors, and community members is essential for organizing collective power, advancing advocacy, and fueling transformation. Health care is inherently political, and social work is positioned to challenge conditions producing inequitable outcomes and to generate evidence to show how these systems create harmful environments for all communities.