Barriers and Facilitators to Prevention and Care of COVID-19 Infection in Cincinnati Latinx Families: a Community-Based Convergent Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Background Latinx populations have experienced disproportionately high case rates of COVID-19 across the USA. Latinx communities in non-traditional migration areas may experience greater baseline day-to-day challenges such as a lack of resources for immigrants and insufficient language services. These challenges may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective This article describes the results of an initial community health needs assessment to better understand the prevention and care of COVID-19 infection in the Cincinnati Latinx community. Methods We used convergent mixed methods to examine barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 prevention and care for those with infection. Results Latinx adults ≥ 18 years old completed 255 quantitative surveys and 17 qualitative interviews. Overarching mixed methods domains included knowledge, prevention, work, challenges, and treatment. Quantitative results largely reinforced qualitative results (confirmation). Certain quantitative and qualitative results, however, diverged and expanded insights related to caring for COVID-19 infection among Latinx adults (expansion). There were infrequent contradictions between quantitative and qualitative findings (discordance). Primary barriers for the Latinx community during the COVID-19 pandemic included insecurities in food, jobs, housing, and immigration. Key facilitators included having trusted messengers of health-related information. Conclusion Public health interventions should be centered on community partnerships and the use of trusted messengers. Wraparound services (including resources for immigrants) are essential public health services. Close partnership with employers is essential as lack of sick leave and mask supplies were more frequent barriers than knowledge. These findings emerged from experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic but likely generalize to future public health crises. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40615-022-01294-7.

Food Insecurity among International Migrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

“…( Table 2 ). Thirty-five studies mainly or totally used the term “food insecurity” [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ], six used “food security” [ 25 , 30 , 32 , 63 , 64 , 65 ], and five used both [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ].…”

“…Among the 46 studies included in this scoping review [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ], half of them were conducted in America [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 40 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 <...…”

“…Eleven studies focused exclusively on Latin American migrants (from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, Puerto Rico, and other countries in Central and South America) [ 28 , 31 , 33 , 42 , 47 , 48 , 54 , 61 , 63 , 69 , 70 ], and two studies included migrants from Oceania (Republic of the Marshall Islands) [ 43 , 49 ]. Ten studies did not specify the region of origin of the migrant population [ 30 , 37 , 46 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 56 , 58 , 59 ]. Seven studies presented a combination of migrants from different regions (including non-EU European countries) [ 29 , 34 , 35 , 55 , 57 , 60 , 68 ] ( Figure 3 ).…”

“…Food (in)security was included in all papers, as it was a condition for inclusion. However, among the thirty-seven papers containing original research, food (in)security was the main focus in ten studies [ 39 , 42 , 50 , 51 , 56 , 58 , 62 , 66 , 68 , 69 ], another ten studies focused on migrants’ health and wellbeing [ 34 , 35 , 41 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 59 , 61 , 65 ], and the impact of COVID-19 on living conditions was the focus in eleven studies [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 46 , 48 , 49 , 55 , 60 , 63 , 64 , 67 ]. Two studies focused on education during the pandemic [ 43 , 52 ], and in one study, the primary outcome was the knowledge and information gathered about COVID-19 [ 40 ].…”

Municipal Ethnic Composition and Disparities in COVID-19 Infections in New Jersey: A Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis

“…A systematic review evaluating the factors contributing to COVID-19 disparities across ethnic groups found that the primary drivers were differences in health care access and exposure risk, such as household crowding and population density [ 32 ]. Among Latinx people, various studies found that the main drivers were employment, housing, and immigration-related insecurity [ 29 , 30 , 33 ].…”