Local Voices on Health Care Communication Issues and Insights on Latino Cultural Constructs

Abstract

Structural issues in the health care delivery system can disproportionately affect language minority patients who require interpretation services. This qualitative study addresses the issues Spanish-speaking Latinos face in obtaining health care by examining the experiences of 25 Spanish speakers in California’s Central Valley, a medically underserved area. The following barriers to communication emerged in the findings: time-restricted interactions, unfriendly encounters, discrimination, issues in interpreting, miscommunication, and opposition to providers. We report participants’ recommendations for improving health care communication, including the need for friendlier and more attentive services, more Spanish-speaking providers, and more time with providers. We argue that these recommendations are in line with Latino cultural constructs: confianza (trust), familismo (family-orientation), personalismo (friendliness), respeto (respect), and simpatía (kindness). This study raises awareness about how language use and intercultural competence affect health care communication by centering the voices of Spanish speakers across numerous contextualized examples.

Factors associated with individual and couple participation in online sexual health research with Latinx sexual minority men.

“…However, these assumptions are speculative and have not been formally tested. Still, in examining Latinx cultural values broadly, Magaña (2020) argues that cultural values and communication patterns are intrinsically linked and calls for the examination of gender-related values, such as machismo , and communication in the context of improving health for Latinxs.…”

“…Accordingly, the present research seeks to explore how communication styles among LSMM couples facilitate research recruitment of a primary partner. Notably, although little is known about the experiences of LSMM, research suggests that patterns in communication styles may facilitate shared goals or reveal underlying conflicts that distance the partners (Magaña, 2020). Thus, understanding how constructive or avoidant communication styles are associated with successful partner recruitment of LSMM can equip researchers to generate culturally sensitive protocols to improve recruitment strategies.…”

Increasing Access and Quality of Behavior-Analytic Services for the Latinx Population

“…From providers’ perspectives, communication difficulties with LEP families may be perceived as a family’s lack of engagement or commitment to receiving services (August et al, 2011 ; Snowden et al, 2006 ). From the families’ perspectives, they may be unable to communicate what they observe during treatment and how they feel about how treatment is proceeding (Lagomasino et al, 2005 ; D. Magaña, 2020 ).…”

Hispanic Caregivers of the Money Follows the Person Program in Connecticut: Satisfaction, Familism, and Burden

“…Even when eligible for home and community-based services (HCBS), Hispanic families may not know about available caregiving programs, how to access them, or have caregiving feelings of guilt and failure if daring to ask for help, leading to service underutilization (NHCOA, 2017). Such support underutilization may also be compounded when caregivers consider these services to be useless, culturally incompetent, and rife with language or communication barriers (AARP & NAC, 2020; Angel & Angel, 2015; Ayalong, 2004; Balcazar et al, 2015; Magaña, 2020).…”