Table 1 Codebook with code definitions and typical exemplars
From: Access to health care for uninsured Latina immigrants in South Carolina
Theme | Code | Definition | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
Barriers and Facilitators to Health Care | Barriers | Use for any reference to barriers such as lack of insurance, transportation, documentation, language, lack of access to health care | “The first [barrier] is the language, after that it’s not having health insurance and then not having money to pay for the appointments.” - Participant #4 |
Community Positives | Apply when individuals mention a positive experience with their community such as health care settings, at work, or in stores | “As Latinos… we receive a lot of good information from the church and the children’s school, they give us good resources about where we can go if we need this or that.” - Participant #15 | |
Community Negatives | Apply when individuals mention a negative experience with their community such as health care settings, at work, or in stores | “One time I felt discrimination… [a nurse at Northwoods] said that Latinos are very hot-headed, and that we’re only here to cause a burden on the country. I don’t know if it was just a bad moment for her, and she was taking it out on me, but it made me feel bad.” - Participant #28 | |
Cost of Healthcare | Use for any reference to cost of health care services or lack of health insurance | “I think I would have to be dying before I put myself in more debt and burden myself with a $1000 bill from an emergency room.” - Participant #1 | |
Health Behaviors and Coping Mechanisms | Positive Health Behaviors | Use for any reference to healthy behaviors or recommendations from doctors or family members | “If you’re trying to eat healthy, the healthiest things come from the Earth; vegetables and all that. So, I think herbal remedies and teas are good because they come from the Earth.” - Participant #25 |
Negative Health Behaviors | Use for any reference to unhealthy behaviors or recommendations from doctors or family members | “We used to eat healthy back in Guatemala. Everything was natural there and there wasn’t as much disease. But here, everything is frozen, the nutrition is very different.” - Participant #13 | |
Coping Mechanisms | Use for any reference to how participants cope with anxiety or depression including their support systems | “We try to avoid depression and feel positive but sometimes it’s hard because we don’t speak much English, so we gravitate to other immigrants. I feel good when I can help other women with whatever I can. I’m also Catholic and we have support groups that give us strength… we pray together and share our experiences to keep our minds healthy.” - Participant #24 | |
Disease Management | Clinic Choice | Use for any reference to health care settings, including free or low-cost clinics | “It’s very expensive to go to the emergency room. So, for routing health you go to different places where they give you free or low-cost care.” - Participant #23 |
Disease Management | Use for any reference to challenges and/or successes with disease management, mainly chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension | “Well if something hurts… you wait until you feel really sick and then you run to the doctor. In the meantime, you take a pill or something for the pain.” - Participant #26 | |
Disease Perceptions | Use for any reference to conditions or diseases that affect the Latino community in Charleston and in the US | “I don’t think anyone has control [of their own health], but we do have lots of control over our nutrition and taking care of ourselves.” - Participant #8 | |
Medications | Use for any reference to over the counter or prescription medications | “We go to the Mexican stores to buy our pills, Tylenol, all of it.” - Participant #1 | |
Signs of Illness | Use for any reference to signs or symptoms that cause someone to seek healthcare | “The body tells us when we’re sick, but sometimes we don’t listen.” - Participant #15 | |
Cultural Factors | Role of Alternative Medicine | Use for any reference to the use of herbal teas, alternative medicine, massages and where they obtain the products or services | “My mom would say to drink a lot of tea, like chamomile tea, also garlic on an empty stomach … it helps with a lot of things.” - Participant #26 |
Role of Family | Use for any reference to how family impacts their decisions and lives | “When my daughter was little I would go with my husband, and he understands English.” - Participant #17 | |
Role of Religion | Use for any reference to how religion or being involved in church activities impacts their decisions and lives | “Yes, I look for Christ because I think that it helps; Professional therapy also helps but I think of looking to God first.” - Participant #21 |