Barriers to HealthCare
Accessibility and availability of healthcare services and facilities in the U. S. are among the challenges that some ethnic groups face, such as Asian Americans. Low socioeconomic position is one of the barriers that hinder this group from accessing health insurance. Therefore, this issue arises amid insufficient skills and language failure, which create a challenge for Asians to work in jobs that extend health coverage to employees since they cannot afford private insurance. Although the healthcare sector has made a significant improvement, uninsured Asians Americans still face structural, cultural, and language barriers as they attempt to access healthcare services.
Asians living in the U.S. face cultural barriers, which hinder them from accessing treatment, especially for chronic illnesses. According to Shah (2016), the issue is instigated by health care providers’ cultural incompetency, which makes Asians uncomfortable to discuss issues regarding their sicknesses, such as terminal illnesses and sexual health. Hence, nurses’ cultural competence is vital towards patients’ satisfaction and confidence in healthcare.
Structural barriers are common among Asian American, especially on the accessibility of healthcare services. Majority of this population live in isolated societies. Hence, their setup affects their movement to the healthcare facilities due to high transport costs, inadequate links to transport facilities, and transport delays, which might affect their appointment schedules (Fioratou et al., 2018). Ultimately, these challenges may result in substandard health outcomes and increased health costs.
Furthermore, language barriers are common among Asian Americans. Such challenges arise during awareness campaigns to this population and create communication difficulties for both health service providers and patients (Fioratou et al., 2018). Therefore, it is significant for healthcare facilities to engage language interpreters and culturally competent nurses to close the communication gap.
