Health practices and expectations of Brazilians in the United States.
This ethnographic examination of Brazilian immigrant perspectives regarding healthcare in the U.S. included participant observation and interviews with 42 Brazilian transnationals. Data were analyzed using Agar's approach. Findings show that Brazilians accessed allopathic care only as a last resort after self-treatment strategies failed, that they tended to feel that diagnostic testing, referrals, and symptom-relieving prescriptions were imperative to good care, and that they expected more personal warmth, continuity of care, and more affectionate verbal and nonverbal cues than their U.S. clinicians provided. Recommendations to improve quality of healthcare to Brazilian transnationals in the USA are discussed.
Roberts
Teresa Eliot
TE
University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA.
D000328:Adult; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D001938:Brazil / Q000208:ethnology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D054521:Cultural Competency; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*