Maternal and Child Health Journal
Volume 23, Issue 11, 2019, Pages 1482-1488

Group Well-Child Care and Health Services Utilization: A Bilingual Qualitative Analysis of Parents’ Perspectives (Article)

Oldfield B.J.* , Nogelo P.F. , Vázquez M. , Ona Ayala K. , Fenick A.M. , Rosenthal M.S.
  • a Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States, Department of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States, National Clinician Scholars Program, Yale School of Medicine, P.O. Box 208088, New Haven, CT 06520, United States, Fair Haven Community Health Care, New Haven, CT, United States
  • b Department of Social Work, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, United States, Department of Social Work, School of Public Health and Human Services, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, United States
  • c Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
  • d Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
  • e Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
  • f Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States, National Clinician Scholars Program, Yale School of Medicine, P.O. Box 208088, New Haven, CT 06520, United States

Abstract

Objective Alternative primary care structures such as group well-child care (GWCC) may enhance care for families, particularly those subject to structural vulnerabilities such as poverty or restrictive immigration policies. The purpose of this study was to characterize how group dynamics in GWCC impact the perceptions of low-income, immigrant, and/or Spanish-speaking parents of health services. Methods Using Spanish and English interview guides that were conceptually identical, we conducted semi-structured interviews with parents who elected to participate in GWCC at an urban academic center. We drew from directed content analysis, grounded theoretically in the Andersen model of health services utilization. Modeling a bilingual, multicultural analytic strategy, we preserved the narrative of participants in the source language through all stages of analysis. Results From March through August 2017, we interviewed 22 caregivers in their preferred language. Most (82%) were mothers and half spoke Spanish only. Three themes emerged: participants perceived that (1) GWCC facilitates their and their peers’ discovery of inherent expertise, which moderates parents’ use of health services, (2) GWCC encourages rearrangements of hierarchies of knowledge, professional roles and genders; and (3) in the context of structural vulnerabilities, relationships formed in GWCC facilitate collective efficacy. Conclusions for Practice By considering the self and peer as sources of health-related expertise, GWCC may extend current theoretical models of health services utilization. GWCC provides opportunities to impact health services utilization among families subject to structural vulnerabilities. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

qualitative research Cultural diversity Primary health care multilingualism Vulnerable populations

Index Keywords

vulnerable population perception Cultural Diversity immigrant narrative lowest income group professional standard group dynamics human drug efficacy language qualitative research speech male case report semi structured interview female qualitative analysis clinical article Article health care utilization mother gender human experiment content analysis child care caregiver Multilingualism primary health care Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85067857464&doi=10.1007%2fs10995-019-02798-1&partnerID=40&md5=74b79e25151cfeacdc7fe84ec2855a1e
DOI: 10.1007/s10995-019-02798-1
ISSN: 10927875
Original Language: English