Two Sides of the Potomac: A Qualitative Exploration of Immigrant Families’ Health Care Experiences in Virginia and Washington, DC

Abstract

In this chapter we examine how micro- and macro-level issues including access to child-only or family public health insurance shape low-income immigrant families’ health care experiences in two policy contexts in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This qualitative study includes 40 in-depth interviews with first-generation, low-income immigrant Latin American and African mothers in DC and Northern Virginia. The majority of families living in Virginia had child-only health insurance, whereas most of the families living in Washington, DC, had family health insurance. Regardless of these insurance differences, all mothers had access to free health care for prenatal care. Pregnancy, for most, was their entry into the U.S. health care system. Families’ ongoing health care experiences differed in relation to insurance access, and culture, including parents’ previous experiences with health care in their countries of origin. Future research should consider the experiences of other immigrant groups, mental health experiences of immigrants, and fathers’ experiences with health care. Future initiatives to address health care should focus on providing family health care to low-income immigrant families across the country, improving access to mental health services for immigrant families, and creating more culturally and linguistically appropriate health care services. This study points to the importance of family health care for immigrant families, as well as care that is culturally and linguistically competent. This study illustrates the need for public family health insurance for low-income immigrant families, and the importance of culturally competent health care for immigrants.