Latino Traditional Healthcare Use: The Social Network Effect

Background and Purpose: Latinos experience lower access to health care compared to non-Latino Whites (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). Well-documented reasons include affordability, health insurance coverage, and need for care (e.g., Dejesus & Xiao 2014; Grumbach, Odom, & Moreno, 2008). However, these studies on access to care frequently neglect to include traditional healers, which misses a substantial number of Latino immigrants who receive non-conventional and informal care in the United States. Also, these studies neglect to capture the complexity of help-seeking. That is, help-seeking is not simply an individual decision but involves the reliance on social relationships and networks. Therefore, we used a social network theory, Network Episode Model (Pescosolido, 2011) to test whether social relationships are associated with the use of a traditional healer, in this case, lifetime use of a curandero. We hypothesized that social networks will have a stronger effect on curandero use.  

Methods: We collected data from a nationally represented sample of Latino immigrant adults (N=3,997) from the 2007 PEW Hispanic Healthcare Survey. Data analysis focused on self-reported responses to lifetime use of a curandero, the dependent variable. Key independent variables included treatment and personal network subsystems within the Network Episode Model; receiving healthcare information, feeling confused and frustrated during a medical visit, receiving healthcare information from family and/or friends and respondent household member use of curandero. Using multivariate logistical regression, we interpreted results from a treatment network and personal network predictor model while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: As hypothesized, treatment and personal network variables significantly predicted lifetime curandero use. First, respondents who received healthcare information from a provider were 40% less likely to use a curandero in their lifetime. Second, respondents who reported a household member using a curandero were 1,240% more likely to use a curandero. Regarding sociodemographic characteristics, being Mexican was associated with a lower likelihood of using a curandero (40%), whereas believing in the importance of spiritual healing (204%) and having fair to worse health (164%) were associated with a higher likelihood of using a curandero. Though these sociodemographic characteristics also predicted curandero use, treatment and personal network variables yielded stronger effects.

Conclusions & Implications: The field of social work represents the perfect vehicle to challenge and change the conventions of U.S. healthcare to further enhance integrated care systems for the delivery of quality care to Latino immigrants. The Grand Challenges for Social Work in achieving equal opportunity, equity, and justice calls on researchers and practitioners to place efforts into systematic economic and social integration of Latinos into U.S. American society (Calvo et al., 2016). In response, this study demonstrates social relationships can have a significant impact on Latinos seeking traditional healers for care treatment. In the midst of current uncertainty and fear in how federal and state U.S. immigration and healthcare policy will impact the well-being of Latino immigrant communities, the findings shine light to an opportunity to integrate social health in physical and mental health care settings.

Back to: EXPLORING PSYCHOSOCIAL WELLBEING ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE

<< Previous Abstract | Next Abstract >>