Objectives: Due to the exponential growth in the Latinx older adult population, culturally responsive services are needed, especially since most healthcare providers are non-Latinx with limited Spanish or bilingual skills. One place to start is by drawing a formative assessment of the healthcare providers' knowledge and awareness of the healthcare needs of Latinx older adults.
Methods: Focus groups were conducted to explore the healthcare providers' knowledge and awareness of cultural and structural barriers and facilitators to accessing health care services for Latinx older adults.
Results: Results note that healthcare providers perceived the healthcare needs for Latinx older adults to be underutilized for healthcare services, preventive interventions for healthy diet/lifestyle, and healthcare knowledge. Providers reported Latinx family over-involvement, religiosity, immigration, and language/lack of interpreters as barriers to seeking timely healthcare. Finally, healthcare providers said that family support, the location of healthcare services, and community-based partnerships were all facilitators for seeking healthcare.
Conclusions: Findings suggest providers' conflicting perspectives toward the Latinx communities.
Clinical implications: Healthcare services can consider implementing trainings for non-Latinx providers to recognize conflicting perspectives and reduce implicit bias toward the Latinx communities.
Keywords: Provider perceptions; health disparities; healthcare disparities; older adults.