The article “Barriers to Healthcare among Asian-Americans” explores the predominant barriers that impede access to healthcare among Asian-Americans. The authors identify four major barriers, including culture/language, immigration status, health literacy, and health insurance. They start their analysis by pointing at the weaknesses inherent in the acknowledged measures of accessing quality of healthcare in a population. They claim that most of the methods are biased because of failure to capture major population characteristics such as health literacy, diversity, and immigrant status. To avoid these limitations, the authors call upon healthcare researchers and policymakers to treat Asian-Americans as a discrete group with special healthcare needs. Culturally-sensitive care can reduce barriers to healthcare.
According to the authors, there are four clear barriers that all practitioners must be conscious about when offering healthcare. One of the explicit barriers is Culture/language. There exist at least 27 tribes among the Asian-Americans implying that it is one of the highly diversified groups. The barrier prevent Asian-Americans from seeking health services mainly because of inability to make an appointment, acquire knowledge on health status, locating healthcare facilities, and communicating with practitioners. Secondly, health literacy is also a key barrier. This extends to include inability to understand specific health situations, including appointment slips, physician’s content forms, as well as complex healthcare systems.
Health insurance is the third obstacle identified by the authors. They report that a large number of Asian Americans lack basic health insurance mainly because they are in low-wage jobs. In addition, most of the members of the group do not appreciate the need for health insurance. Finally, the authors consider immigration status as a chief barrier to healthcare among the Asian Americans. They argue that the unaccounted number of Asian Americans is quite high because of illegal immigration.
The article impacts patient care in a number of ways. Firstly, it exposes some of the major challenges that minority groups face when seeking healthcare. By understanding and appreciating these barriers, practitioners can be able to enhance the quality of healthcare. The author’s thesis also helps advance the nursing field by calling for specialized attention in the provision of healthcare. Besides, the authors suggest the need for introduction of universal healthcare. This may help advance the field of nursing because of its potential to foster evidenced-based practice.
The central theme of the article is to demonstrate the high level of disparity that exists in provision of healthcare in the country. Its target audience is healthcare practitioners and policymakers. The authors encourage practitioners to offer culturally sensitive patient care in order to overcome the barriers. On the other hand, healthcare policymakers are advised to formulate policies that are sensitive to the needs of the different ethnic groups in the country.
The major conclusion of the article is that there are many barriers that affect access to healthcare among Asian Americans. However, the article is characterized by some major weaknesses. One of the weaknesses is that the article explores only one ethnic group. The authors would have strengthened their argument by comparing their findings with results drawn from other ethnic groups. Moreover, the authors’ failure to capture the perception of practitioners in regards to barriers to healthcare is also a major weakness. Nonetheless, there is a positive outcome from the article in that it helps advance the importance of evidence-based practice. In terms of future research, the authors encourage studies on some of the methods that can help offer culturally-sensitive care.
References
Kim, W. & Keefe, R. (2010). Barriers to healthcare among Asian Americans. Social Work in Public Health, 25(4), 286-295.