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

• Published in: Maternal and child health journal Vol. 23; no. 11; pp. 1482 - 1488
• Main Authors: Oldfield, Benjamin J., Nogelo, Patricia F., Vázquez, Marietta, Ona Ayala, Kimberly, Fenick, Ada M., Rosenthal, Marjorie S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.11.2019; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Bilingualism; Child care; Child care services; Child Health Services - statistics & numerical data; Child Welfare; Child, Preschool; Content analysis; Families & family life; Female; Gynecology; Health services utilization; Humans; Immigration policy; Interviews as Topic - methods; Male; Maternal and Child Health; Medical care; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Parents; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Pediatrics; Population Economics; Poverty; Public Health; Qualitative analysis; Qualitative Research; Sociology; Utilization; United States; Qualitative research; Multilingualism; Cultural diversity; Vulnerable populations; Primary health care
• ISSN: 1092-7875; 1573-6628; 1573-6628
• DOI: 10.1007/s10995-019-02798-1

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.