Barriers to Health Care among Asian Immigrants in the United States (Essay Sample)

Article Summary: Barriers to Health Care among Asian Immigrants in the United States: A Traditional Review
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Article Summary: Barriers to Health Care among Asian Immigrants in the United States: A Traditional Review
According to the authors, the Asian community in the United States has been growing at a tremendous rate over the past few years. For instance, between 2000 and 2010, the Asian population increased to 14.7 million from 10.2 million. However, the community is far less likely to have insurance cover or utilize health care facilities when compared to US-born Asians or other non-Hispanic whites. Further, the majority of Asian immigrants who have access to health care facilities have fewer chances of high-quality medical attention. The authors focus on four barriers that limit the community’s access to health care services in the United States. Firstly, language barrier proves to be a challenge to recent immigrants. In essence, the majority of medical service providers in the United States use English as their mother tongue. However, Asian immigrants have low English proficiency, which makes communication between providers and patients difficult. Secondly, Asians cultural beliefs deter from US health institutions because they believe that the services are incompetent. Thirdly, Asians lack of medical insurance dissuades them from accessing health care services because of the costs associated with uninsured persons. Lastly, discrimination in the health care system is rampant; as a result, the majority of the community’s members opt for alternative medicine where discrimination is limited. As such, when addressing the challenges that these people face, it is imperative to consider barriers the people face at multiple levels. Ideally, the community faces both interpersonal barriers as well as institutional challenges. The health care service providers ought to understand that Asian immigrants with little English proficiency are uncomfortable when treated by English speaking personnel because of...