Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1063, USA.
J Rural Health. 2011 Spring;27(2):159-67. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-0361.2010.00323.x. Epub 2010 Aug 31.
Little is known about access to medicine among immigrant Latinos in the United States (US). This study explored access to, and use of, prescription drugs obtained from nonmedical sources among recently arrived, Spanish-speaking immigrant Latinos in rural North Carolina (NC).
Our community-based participatory research partnership collected, analyzed, and interpreted data from individual in-depth interviews with Latino community members and rural health service providers. A purposive sample of 30 community members, including traditional healers, religious leaders, transgender Latinos, heterosexual Latino men and women, and Latino gay men, were interviewed to gain emic ("insider") perspectives on use of nonmedical sources of prescription drugs. Six local Latino health service providers also were interviewed to gain etic ("outsider") perspectives on use.
Participants described the roles of tiendas (grocers), family, and social networks in accessing treatment advice and prescription drugs. They described health care expectations among immigrants and contingencies for accessing prescription drugs in the US. Prescription medicines (eg, antibiotics, hormones, Viagra, analgesics), injection equipment (eg, syringes), and medical advice were identified as readily available from nonmedical sources.
Increased access to formalized health care and effective health education initiatives are needed to meet the challenges facing immigrant Latinos.
在美国，人们对移民拉丁裔获取药物的情况知之甚少。本研究旨在探索新移民的西班牙语裔拉丁裔人群在北卡罗来纳州农村地区，从非医疗渠道获取和使用处方药的情况。
我们的社区参与式研究伙伴关系从拉丁裔社区成员和农村卫生服务提供者的个人深入访谈中收集、分析和解释数据。通过目的性抽样，我们采访了 30 名社区成员，包括传统治疗师、宗教领袖、跨性别拉丁裔、异性恋拉丁裔男性和女性以及拉丁裔男同性恋者，以了解他们对非医疗来源处方药的使用情况的本土视角。还采访了六名当地的拉丁裔卫生服务提供者，以了解他们对处方药使用情况的外部视角。
参与者描述了 tiendas（杂货店）、家庭和社交网络在获取治疗建议和处方药方面的作用。他们描述了移民的医疗保健期望以及在美国获取处方药的应对措施。从非医疗渠道获得了各种处方药（如抗生素、激素、伟哥、止痛药）、注射设备（如注射器）和医疗建议。
需要增加获得正规医疗保健和有效的健康教育计划的机会，以应对移民拉丁裔面临的挑战。
