Doctors, Curanderos, and Brujas: Health Care Delivery and Mexican Immigrants in San Diego
Author: Chavez, Leo R.
Date Published: 1984
This paper examines data gathered on Mexican immigrants in San Diego County, California, that support the growing consensus that socioeconomic factors affect this population's behavioral patterns regarding health care services much more than do cultural beliefs. Many of the members of this population find that access to conventional U.S. health services is limited by their socioeconomic condition and, for some, an undocumented immigration status. However, the evidence suggests that many Mexican immigrants believe in folk illnesses, perceive U.S. health care practitioners as lacking an understanding of folk illnesses, and feel that this lack of understanding does affect practitioner behavior when they seek health care. In short, the overwhelming significance of socioeconomic factors should not blind us to the importance of cultural beliefs and perceptions about health care, although the latter probably diminish in importance the longer that Mexicans and their descendants reside in the United States.
Date Published: 1984
This paper examines data gathered on Mexican immigrants in San Diego County, California, that support the growing consensus that socioeconomic factors affect this population's behavioral patterns regarding health care services much more than do cultural beliefs. Many of the members of this population find that access to conventional U.S. health services is limited by their socioeconomic condition and, for some, an undocumented immigration status. However, the evidence suggests that many Mexican immigrants believe in folk illnesses, perceive U.S. health care practitioners as lacking an understanding of folk illnesses, and feel that this lack of understanding does affect practitioner behavior when they seek health care. In short, the overwhelming significance of socioeconomic factors should not blind us to the importance of cultural beliefs and perceptions about health care, although the latter probably diminish in importance the longer that Mexicans and their descendants reside in the United States.
