Using Community-Driven, Participatory Qualitative Inquiry to Discern Nuanced Community Health Needs and Assets of Chicago’s La Villita, a Mexican Immigrant Neighborhood

Abstract

In predominately immigrant neighborhoods, the nuances of immigrant life in the ethnic enclave have important, yet underappreciated impact on community health. The complexities of immigrant experiences are essential to unpacking and addressing the impact of acculturative processes on observed racial, ethnic, and class-based health disparities in the United States. These insights because they are largely unexplored are best captured qualitatively through academic-community research partnership. We established the participatory mixed method Little Village participatory community health assessment(CHA) to explore community health in an ethnic enclave. In this paper, we share findings from our qualitative component exploring: how do Residents in a Predominately Immigrant Neighborhood Perceive Community Health Needs and Assets in Little Village. Three major themes emerged: rich, health promoting community assets inherent in the ethnic enclave; cumulative chronic stress impacting the mental health of families and intra-familial strain; and, work and occupation as important but underappreciated community health determinants in an immigrant neighborhood. These nuanced findings enhanced our community health assessment and contributed to the development of two additional tailored CHA methods, a community member-administered Community Health Survey, and an oral history component that provided deeper insight on the community's health needs and assets, and a focus for action on work as a social determinant of health at the community level. Conducting trusted community-driven health assessments that are adaptive and flexible to capture authentic needs and assets are critical, given health consequences of the new anti-immigrant rhetoric and growing socio-political tensions and fear in immigrant neighborhoods in the United States.