US-Mexico Border Area Research Articles

Norteño Corporeality: Body, Gender, Sound, and Economy in Commercialized Norteño Music Videos

ABSTRACT This article analyzes norteño corporeality, or how bodies physically engage with norteño music and visually display norteño identities. Through a comparison of more than 75 mainstream videos, it explains how current norteño corporeality differs from earlier corporealities, why it differs from tejano ones, and why it strongly resembles those of gangsta rap. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the article focuses on the banal and the ordinary in musical performance; in so doing it shows how gender and race interact with and are affected by neoliberalism in the US-Mexico border area.

Designing a critical care solution using in-person and telemedicine approaches in the US-Mexico border area during COVID-19

BackgroundUC San Diego Health System (UCSDHS) is the largest academic medical center and integrated care network in US-Mexico border area of California contiguous to the Northern Baja region of Mexico. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled several UCSDHS and local communities to create awareness around best methods to promote regional health in this economically, socially, and politically important border area. PurposeTo improve understanding of optimal strategies to execute critical care collaborative programs between academic and community health centers facing public health emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the experience of UCSDHS and several community hospitals (one US, two Mexican) in the US-Mexico border region. MethodsAfter taking several preparatory steps, we developed a two-phase program that included 1) in-person activities to perform needs assessments, hands-on training and education, and morale building and 2) creation of a telemedicine-based (Tele-ICU) service for direct patient management and/or educational coaching experiences.Findings.A clinical and educational program between academic and community border hospitals was feasible, effective, and well received. ConclusionWe offer several policy-oriented recommendations steps for academic and community healthcare programs to build educational, collaborative partnerships to address COVID-19 and other cross-cultural, international public health emergencies.

Art as Advocacy: Protecting the U.S.-Mexico Border Environment in Amanda Keller Konya's "Specimens"

Amanda Keller-Konya's multilayered photographic image construction in "Specimens" from North America's Most Polluted River" helps the viewer perceive the magnitude of the damage sustained by US-Mexico's border area residents in California's Imperial Valley and the effort necessary to clean the area's New River. The river originates in Mexicali city, capital of Baja California, northwestern Mexico, crosses the border, flows north through California's Imperial Valley, and empties into the Salton Sea, the state's largest and most contaminated lake. A sustainable environment is crucial to the health of the valley's residents and farms that supply most of the nation's winter produce. Recovery of the area's ecosystem requires solving the impact of agricultural runoff and toxic dust as less water flows into the Salton Sea, a body of water vital for the wellbeing of Southern Californians, the fish, and the migratory birds that depend on it for survival.

An In-Person and Telemedicine "Hybrid" System to Improve Cross-Border Critical Care in COVID-19.

Background:UC San Diego Health System (UCSDHS) is an academic medical center and integrated care network in the US-Mexico border area of California contiguous to the Mexican Northern Baja region. The COVID-19 pandemic deeply influenced UCSDHS activities as new public health challenges increasingly related to high population density, cross-border traffic, economic disparities, and interconnectedness between cross-border communities, which accelerated development of clinical collaborations between UCSDHS and several border community hospitals – one in the US, two in Mexico – as high volumes of severely ill patients overwhelmed hospitals.Objective:We describe the development, implementation, feasibility, and acceptance of a novel critical care support program in three community hospitals along the US-Mexico border.Methods:We created and instituted a hybrid critical care program involving: 1) in-person activities to perform needs assessments of equipment and supplies and hands-on training and education, and 2) creation of a telemedicine-based (Tele-ICU) service for direct patient management and/or consultative, education-based experiences. We collected performance metrics surrounding adherence to evidence-based practices and staff perceptions of critical care delivery.Findings:In-person intervention phase identified and filled gaps in equipment and supplies, and Tele-ICU program promoted adherence to evidence-based practices and improved staff confidence in caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients at each hospital.Conclusion:A collaborative, hybrid critical care program across academic and community centers is feasible and effective to address cross-cultural public health emergencies.

Assessing Impact of Household Intervention on Indoor Air Quality and Health of Children with Asthma in the US-Mexico Border: A Pilot Study.

Few studies have investigated household interventions to enhance indoor air quality (IAQ) and health outcomes in relatively low-income communities. This study aims to examine the impact of the combined intervention with asthma education and air purifier on IAQ and health outcomes in the US-Mexico border area. An intervention study conducted in McAllen, Texas, between June and November 2019 included 16 households having children with asthma. The particulate matter (PM2.5) levels were monitored in the bedroom, kitchen, and living room to measure the IAQ for 7 days before and after the intervention, respectively. Multiple surveys were applied to evaluate changes in children's health outcomes. The mean PM2.5 levels in each place were significantly improved. Overall, they significantly decreased by 1.91 μg/m3 on average (p < 0.05). All surveys showed better health outcomes; particularly, quality of life for children was significantly improved (p < 0.05). This pilot study suggests that the combined household intervention might improve IAQ in households and health outcomes for children with asthma and reduce health disparities in low-income communities. Future large-scale studies are needed to verify the effectiveness of this household intervention to improve IAQ and asthma management.

Misconceptions about substance use in the US-Mexico border area.

There is a widespread misconception that drug use is rife in the US–Mexico border area, particularly in Mexican states. But with a dirth of available epidemiological data, we have to be careful about the conclusions we draw, argues Guilherme Borges.

Symptoms of anxiety on both sides of the US–Mexico border: The role of immigration

Home to about 15 million people, the US–Mexico border area has suffered stresses from increased border security efforts and a costly drug war in Mexico. Whether immigration patterns add to increasing levels of anxiety for the Mexican population and the Mexican-origin individuals living in the US–Mexico border and near the border is unknown. We used the US–Mexico Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions (UMSARC), a cross-sectional survey (2011–2013) of individuals living in border and non-border cities of the US (n = 2336) and Mexico (n = 2460). In Mexico respondents were asked if they ever migrated to the US or have a family member living in the US (328) or not (2124), while in the US respondents were asked if they were born in Mexico (697), born in the US with no US-born parents (second generation, 702) or born in the US with at least one US-born parent (third generation, 932). The prevalence and risk factors for symptoms of anxiety using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (>=10) were obtained. Mexicans with no migrant experience had a prevalence of anxiety and adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) within the last month of 6.7% (PR = reference), followed by Mexicans with migration experience of 13.1% (PR = 1.8), Mexican-born respondents living in the US of 17.3% (PR = 2.6), US born Mexican-Americans of 2nd generation of 18.6% (PR = 3.3) and finally US born 3rd + generation of 25.9% (PR = 3.8). Results help to identify regions and migration patterns at high risk for anxiety and may help to unravel causal mechanisms that underlie this risk.

Factors Influencing Health Care Utilization in Older Hispanics with Diabetes along the Texas-Mexico Border

Little is known about predictors of health care utilization for older Hispanics with chronic conditions. This study aimed to determine: (1) the level of health care access for older Hispanics with type 2 diabetes living in a US-Mexico border area; and (2) personal and health correlates to health care utilization (ie, physician visits, eye care, emergency room [ER] use). This was a cross-sectional study based on a community assessment conducted at a clinic, senior centers, and colonias. Colonias are impoverished neighborhoods with substandard living conditions along the US-Mexico border. Hispanics living in colonias are one of the most disadvantaged minority groups in the United States. The study sample consisted of 249 Hispanics age 60 years and older who have type 2 diabetes. Descriptive analyses, multiple linear regression, and generalized linear models were conducted. Older age (P = 0.02) and affordability of physician fees (P = 0.02) were significant correlates to more frequent physician visits. Factors significantly associated with eye care were being insured (P = 0.001) and reporting high cholesterol (P = 0.005). ER use was significantly associated with younger age (60-64 years old; P = 0.03) and suffering from hypertension (P = 0.02). Those who received diabetes education (P = 0.04) were less likely to use the ER. Identifying patterns of health care utilization services in aging underserved minorities who are disproportionately affected by diabetes may lead to culturally appropriate preventive practices and timely access to health care. Adequate health care access can decrease or delay the onset of diabetes complications in older Hispanics with type 2 diabetes who live along the US-Mexico border.

"Hospital utilization by Mexican migrants returning to Mexico due to health needs"

BackgroundA total of 12.7 million Mexicans reside as migrants in the United States, of whom only 45% have health insurance in this country while access to health insurance by migrants in Mexico is fraught with difficulties. Health insurance has been shown to impact the use of health care in both countries. This paper quantifies hospitalizations by migrants who return from the US seeking medical care in public and private hospitals in the US-Mexico border area and in communities of origin. The proportion of bed utilization and the proportion of hospitalizations in Mexico out of the total expected by migrants in the US were estimated.MethodsThe universe included 48 Ministry of Health and 47 private hospitals serving municipalities of high or very high migration in Mexico, where 17% of remittance-receiving households are located, as well as 15 public and 159 private hospitals in 10 Mexican cities along the border with the US. Hospitals were sampled through various methods to include 27% of beds. Patients and staff were interviewed and data triangulated to quantify migrants that returned to Mexico seeking medical care. Official hospital discharge statistics and secondary data from migration databases and published statistics were analyzed to identify bed occupancy, general migrant hospitalization rates and the size of the migrant population that maintains close relationships with households in communities of origin.ResultsUp to 1609 migrants were admitted to public hospitals (76.6%) and 492 to private hospitals (23.4%) serving municipalities of high and very high migration intensity in 2008. Up to 0.90% of public hospital capacity was used. In the border area up to 908 and 2416 migrants were admitted to public (27.3%) and private (72.7%) hospitals, respectively. Up to 1.18% of public hospital capacity was used. Between 2.4% and 20.4% of the expected hospitalization needs of migrants with dependent households are satisfied through these services. The most common diagnostic categories mentioned across hospitals were traumatisms, complications of diabetes and elective surgery, in that order. Private hospitals mention elective surgeries as the main diagnostic category followed by complications of diabetes.ConclusionsHospitals in communities of origin in Mexico are devoting few resources to respond to hospitalization needs of migrants in the US. Currently no hospital programs exist to stimulate migrant demand or to cater to their specific needs. Registering migratory history in clinical and administrative records can be readily implemented. Developing bi-national referral networks and insuring migrants in the US within current Mexican federal programs could greatly increase migrant access to hospitals.

Border Literary Histories, Globalization, and Critical Regionalism

We are all, of course, only too familiar with “globalization” understood as a multinational corporate/economic world phenomenon, or more specifically, as Robert Eric Livingston reminds us, as “economic discourses commonly termed neoliberal embodied and administered by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.” But, Livingston continues, “ethical and political discourses . . . likewise aspire to global significance” (145). Today, such is also the case for critical discourses in American literary studies, which, in another time, were almost fully grounded and bounded within the US. Such a critical globalization in American literary studies is in the same universe as “the transnational,” “the post-national,” and “border theory”—interpretive tendencies that while discrete, nevertheless share the same basic impulse and mission of decentering American literary studies away from a nation–state focus and identity. The purpose of this essay is to critique this tendency with some cautionary observations and with a focus on literary histories that speak to the US-Mexico border area, principally the respective works of Jose David Saldivar and Ramon Saldivar.

Videodisc Technology: Teaching Underserved Populations About Infant Feeding

In order to expand the available health education on infant feeding a program was designed using videodisc technology that is interactive with the user. This article discusses the formatting of the videodisc program the equipment that is necessary and the investigation the analyzed the effectiveness and user friendliness of the system. The program was designed after a study that examined infant feeding methods of a larger group of Hispanic women on the US-Mexico border area. The videodisc system provides a story line of a woman beginning with feeding preparations during the prenatal period and follows her and her baby through the 1st year of development. Of 51 field tested mothers all found the program educational and 1/2 of them were able to go completely through the program with no prompting from any people. The user needs to only touch the computer screen to reply to each of the computers questions for the computer prompts to work. Almost 1/2 of the subjects had family members view the videodisc with them and all recommended it for use inducing asking for other child care related to pico.