Talking about health and health care: experiences and perspectives of Latina women in a farmworking community

Reflecting an increasingly permanent Latino population, the 1990 U.S. Census showed that nearly three-fourths of the 22.4 million Latinos were native born or naturalized U.S. citizens (Eshleman, 1994; del Pinal, 1993). Perhaps in part because of the growth and relative permanency of Latino and other immigrant populations, a U.S. 'backlash' has resulted in efforts to curtail services to them (Vega, 1995). In states with rapidly-growing immigrant populations, exclusionary policies may be aimed at specific groups. Proposition 187 in California, for example, denies access to regular, ongoing health care for undocumented Latinos. For migrant farm-working families, who often live in rural areas with few services, access to health care is additionally problematic. The purpose of this research was to examine realities for migrant farm-working families, whose health may be compromised by service cutbacks. Focus group interviews were conducted with adult women of Mexican descent who lived in a rural Oregon community, and who had access to a local family health project designed for them. This article reports the findings from the focus group interviews.