Politics is nothing if not partisan at the moment, with a seemingly yawning divide between left and right of the political spectrum.  We can perhaps imagine the damage this does to areas such as the economy, but a recent study from the University of Washington explores the impact at a much more granular level.

It finds that the current political climate, and especially debates in the United States about things such as the proposed border wall with Mexico, is having a profound impact on the health of Latino migrants.

“People focus so much on policies, like the border wall or the DREAM Act. But it’s not just whether these policies pass; it’s the overall discourse,” the authors explain.  “This is a vulnerable and marginalized population, and that climate creates fear and uncertainty, which have impacts on people’s health.”

The politics of health

The researchers interviewed a group of Latino immigrants alongside a number of people who worked closely with immigrants in various social and community services in the Queens neighborhood of New York.  Most of the volunteers hailed from Mexico, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

The interviews aimed to uncover the understanding the volunteers had, and indeed their concerns about various day-to-day issues.  These were grouped into concerns around discrimination, unpredictable circumstances and a general lack of information.

Sadly, a sense of anti-immigrant sentiments was pervasive among the volunteers, with many reporting feeling like they were lazy, drunk, unreliable and various other negative characteristics.  Many cited Donald Trump as the architect of such feelings, with his policies adding to the confusion and unpredictability of life.

The combination of discrimination with the uncertainty caused by poor information led to a number of psycho-emotional factors emerging, including fear and hopelessness.  Various physical factors, such as unprotected sex or an avoidance of medical care were also prevalent.

Shaping behaviors

This forms one of the many things that shape our behavior.  For instance, what do people believe might happen if they visit a doctor or reach out to social support services?  Even if migrants do strive to engage in healthy behaviors, a number of environmental factors may hold them back.  Indeed, preventative health measures were seldom the first thing on the minds of those interviewed, with a profound sense of fear holding back many from even visiting their doctor.

This stress level acts as a profound barrier against hte integration of immigrants into their host community, and the authors believe that their findings should prompt policy makers to do more to reach out to immigrant communities when designing social and health policies.

The authors admit that the sample used in the study was relatively small, and the diversity of the group much narrower than the reality, especially in a multi-cultural city like New York.  They aim to address this in future research.  Nonetheless, they hope that their findings help both policy makers and the research community to better understand the links between sociopolitical contexts and health.

“While policy changes are critical for resource allocation and opportunity creation for immigrants in the United States, we cannot simply wait for changes to happen. Health disparities among immigrants constitute urgent social work and public health issues,” they conclude.  “Research can demonstrate the need for systemic and policy level change, and we can work from different levels to address barriers and improve outcomes, today.”