Contrasting Experiences With Child Health Care Services by Mothers and Professional Caregivers in Transitional Housing

Abstract

The study examined experiences of mothers and health care providers with preventive child health care services using qualitative methods at a primary care clinic located in transitional housing for homeless families in an urban community with predominantly Black American residents. Participants were 20 mothers and 4 health care professionals. Three major domains emerged: (a) the infrastructure of the clinic and health care delivery poses barriers to mothers’ access and use of services for their children; (b) specialized, biomedical-driven care produces fragmented care delivery not responsive to the comprehensive nature of problems of mothers and their children; and (c) organizational strategies for improving access and use of health care services are directed by health care providers’ value orientations. Findings support existence of infrastructural characteristics of the health care system that maintains differential value orientations and power structure, and care delivery processes that are non responsive to racially diverse and poor mothers.