The COVID-19 pandemic posed a complex and often painful healthcare experience for many across the country, and in the Latinx community, that pain was defined as compounding social and health inequity and a need for a stronger social safety net, according to new survey data published in JAMA Network Open.
Specifically, the study showed that Latinx patients were likely to encounter COVID-19 misinformation and experience a lapse in the social safety net that may have led to even further inequity after an individual contracted the virus.
These findings come as experts grapple with the health disparities seen during the coronavirus pandemic. Latinx patients disproportionately carried the impact of the disease, with their share of COVID-19 cases exceeding their share of the total US population, the researchers said.
“Individuals also expressed a fear of eviction, despite a moratorium on evictions,” the research team added. “Programs that provide rent relief may offer households the economic ability to isolate without fear of unpaid rent.”
This finding demonstrates that fears about healthcare costs and immigration enforcement in healthcare settings are a strong and prevailing force that can dissuade care access, regardless of individual hospital policy.
Read more at PatientEngagementHIT.com.
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