Barriers to Healthcare in the Hispanic Population of DeKalb County: A Healthcare Provider Perspective

Numerous qualitative studies have identified a variety of barriers faced by Hispanic patients when accessing healthcare, but there has been minimal research completed on healthcare providers’ perspectives of these barriers. The present study was created to investigate current healthcare providers’ perspectives to gain new insight into the factors influencing accessibility of care. In this qualitative study, five healthcare providers were selected as participants through snowball sampling techniques. Data collection occurred through face-to-face interviews, and, with utilization of the Glaser and Strauss constant comparison method of data analysis, four major categories emerged. Findings showed that the barriers identified by healthcare providers are no different from those identified by Hispanic patients; however, the providers’ perspective also uncovered new data on underlying factors influencing accessibility of care. This includes educational deficits, social isolation of patients, and an inability to secure referrals to specialists for undocumented, uninsured, and low income patients. However, due to low sample size of this study, additional research should be conducted to ensure data saturation is reached prior to proposing new theory based on this dataB.S. (Bachelor of Science