<p> Healthcare access is a highly reported problem for immigrant populations in the United States, especially for Hispanic migrants at the US-Mexico border. This statement holds particularly true for populations living in unincorporated communities known as <i>colonias</i> in the borderland region. Residents of a <i>colonia</i> are estimated to suffer from preventable or treatable illnesses including tuberculosis, hepatitis A, cholera, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, depression, substance abuse, among other health problems, at two to four times the national average (Matthiesen 1997; Anders et al. 2010:366; Mier et al. 2013:208; Sharkey et al. 2011; Davidhizar 1999). This apparent disparity is a result of unequal healthcare access due to social, legal, economic, and physical/spatial barriers. Using a structural violence framework as a lens, this study attempted to determine the barriers impeding access to healthcare for <i>colonia</i> residents, as well as analyze the interrelationships between the types of barriers. This study utilized semi-structured interviews to gain an understanding of perceived social, legal, spatial/physical, and other suggested barriers preventing healthcare access in El Paso County, TX <i>colonias</i>. In order to fully demonstrate the role of spatial/physical barriers on access to care, this study utilized Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map obstacles in the targeted communities.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10276261 |
| Date | 13 June 2017 |
| Creators | Hutson, Sydney Nicole |
| Publisher | University of Colorado at Denver |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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