Award Date

8-1-2014

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Environmental and Occupational Health

First Committee Member

Michelle Chino

Second Committee Member

Carolee Dodge-Francis

Third Committee Member

Timothy Bungum

Fourth Committee Member

Connie Mobley

Number of Pages

184

Abstract

Undocumented (unauthorized, illegal) immigrants seek employment on the street corners near home improvement stores offering their services and selling their labor to the employers who arrive in their cars or trucks to pick them up for a few hours of hard work. The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States continues to increase. By percentage of overall population, Nevada has one of the largest shares of undocumented immigrants in the United States, and the bulk of that percentage is Latino.

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study is to gain knowledge about undocumented Latino day laborers' perceived health care needs. Two research questions guide the study: (1) How do undocumented Latino day laborers living in Las Vegas, Nevada, perceive access to health care? and (2) How do undocumented Latino day laborers address health care needs and injuries from work? In-depth interviews were conducted using a purposeful sample of eight Latino day laborers. Three main themes and nine sub-themes emerged from the interviews: (1) Mental health (addiction, ageism, and discrimination/inequality); (2) Physical health (past health status, present health status, alternative health care, and clandestine clinics); and (3) Work safety (workers' rights, organized day laborers). Preliminary recommendations are made based upon the substance and context of the workers' expressed circumstances.

Keywords

Day laborers; Health services accessibility; Illegal aliens; Latin Americans; Medical care; Nevada – Las Vegas

Disciplines

Immigration Law | Public Health | Work, Economy and Organizations

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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