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Investigator publications listed on this site relate to research funded through the Investigator Awards program. References are provided for books and selected journal articles written by the investigators. Abstracts are available for some featured publications.
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Health Care and Immigration: Understanding the Connections
Portes, A., Fernandez-Kelly, P. editors
Published: 2012
Routledge
»Show summary
This pioneering volume represents the culmination of state-of-the-art research whose purpose was to investigate the relationship between health care and immigration in the USA - two broken systems in need of reform. This volume sets out to answer the question: how do medical institutions address the needs of individuals and families who are poor, lacking English fluency, and often devoid of legal documents? The book provides an examination of the challenges faced by institutions aiming to serve impoverished people and communities desperately in need of help. It represents a comprehensive portrayal of two institutional arrangements affecting the lives of millions on a daily basis.

Health Care and Immigration offers accounts of the alternative paths used by immigrants to bypass dominant health-care organizations, and regional variations in health-care; the evolution and character of health-care legislation; factors explaining the persistence of altruistic institutions in a market economy, as well as the parts played by local legislation and social networks; and changes resulting from migration that affect the health of immigrants. This volume will be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and students, as well as public officials addressing the health care needs of disadvantaged groups.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies
Linked Investigator Award(s):
Alejandro Portes, Ph.D.Immigration and the Health Care System: An Institutional Analysis
Award Year: 2006

»Show Abstract
Approximately one in nine U.S. residents is now foreign born, and both immigrants and their children are significantly more likely to be uninsured than the native population. Health care facilities face challenges in coping with rapidly growing numbers of diverse immigrant patients who are poor, uninsured, and often unable to speak English. Alejandro Portes, Ph.D. examines how well health care organizations are meeting the needs of immigrant patients, and what accounts for performance differences. His project, Immigration and the Health Care System: An Institutional Analysis, focuses on 45 hospitals, community clinics, and health care centers in Miami, San Diego, and the Trenton-New Brunswick corridor in New Jersey to evaluate their capacity to cope with uninsured immigrants and overcome barriers to effective care. Dr. Portes' results should inform policy efforts to address the health needs of immigrants and help ensure that health care organizations respond effectively to an increasingly diverse society.