Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1999 Jan;1(1):19-30.
doi: 10.1023/A:1022684013266.

Immigration reform and the health of Latino immigrants in California

L A Palinkas  1 , J I Arciniega
Affiliations

Immigration reform and the health of Latino immigrants in California

L A Palinkas et al. J Immigr Health. 1999 Jan.

Abstract

This paper examines Latino immigrant health within the context of the current debate over immigration reform and the resulting cultural construction of public health in California. A review of epidemiologic and ethnographic data indicates that the subordinate socioeconomic status of Latino immigrants plays a major role in both disease etiology and access to health services. However, this status does not explain why certain patterns of health services utilization and disease morbidity and mortality persist although political and economic circumstances have changed. These patterns include the reluctance to utilize certain health services despite access to health insurance and the presence of an epidemiologic paradox in which Latinos have health status indicators comparable to or better than that of other ethnic groups despite high poverty, low education, and lack of access to care. An "economy of culture" model is used to explain these inconsistencies in the political economy model of Latino immigrant health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. JAMA. 1993 Feb 17;269(7):889-94 - PubMed
    1. Arch Intern Med. 1994 May 23;154(10):1073-81 - PubMed
    1. J Stud Alcohol. 1988 Sep;49(5):462-71 - PubMed
    1. Med Care. 1988 May;26(5):441-52 - PubMed
    1. Soc Sci Med. 1990;30(2):179-87 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources