Community Cultural Health Capital: Cultural Resources for Navigating Healthcare on the Margins

• In Event: 150 - Regular Session. Health Disparities in Social Context

Abstract

Communities struggling with access to healthcare in the U.S. are often considered to be disadvantaged and lacking in resources. Yet, these communities develop and nurture valuable strategies for healthcare access that are underrecognized by health scholars. Combining medical sociology and critical race theory perspectives on cultural capital, this paper examines the health-relevant cultural resources, or Community Cultural Health Capital, in South Texas Latina/o border communities. Latina/o patients and their families use navigational, social, familial, and linguistic skills and knowledge to access healthcare despite political, economic and social barriers. Focusing on prescription drugs in particular, I consider the cultural resources used in Latina/o communities to access prescription drugs despite lacking health insurance, U.S. citizenship or authorized immigration status, English language skills, and other resources that facilitate access to mainstream public and private healthcare. Community Cultural Health Capital may not always fully counteract healthcare marginalization. Nevertheless, recognizing the cultural resources developed in Latina/o communities to manage healthcare on the margins challenges deficit views of marginalized communities and yields important findings for policymakers, healthcare providers, and advocates seeking to capitalize on community resources to improve healthcare access.

Author

• Erin Fanning Madden, University of Wisconsin-Madison