Question

MEXICAN CASE STUDY #2

Pablo Gaborra, aged 32, and his wife, Olga, aged 24, live in a migrant-worker camp on

the eastern shore of Maryland. They have two children: Roberto, aged 7, and Linda, aged

18 months. Olga’s two younger sisters, Florencia, aged 16, and Rosa, aged 12, live with

them. Another distant relative, Rodolpho, aged 28, comes and goes several times each

year and seems to have no fixed address.

Pablo and Olga, born in Mexico, have lived in the United States for 13 years, first

in Texas for 6 years and then in Delaware for 1 year, before moving to the eastern shore

of Maryland 5 years ago. Neither of them has U.S. citizenship, but both children were

born in the United States.

Pablo completed the sixth grade and Olga the third grade in Mexico. Pablo can

read and write enough English to function at a satisfactory level. Olga knows a few

English words but sees no reason for learning English, even though free classes are

available in the community. Olga’s sisters have attended school in the United States and

can speak English with varying degrees of fluency. Roberto attends school in the local

community but is having great difficulty with his educational endeavors. The family

speaks only Spanish at home. Not much is known about the distant relative, Rodolpho,

except that he is from Mexico, speaks minimal English, drinks beer heavily, and

occasionally works picking vegetables. The Gaborra family lives in a trailer on a large

vegetable farm. The house has cold running water but no hot water, has an indoor

bathroom without a shower or bathtub and is heated with a wood-burning stove. The

trailer park has an outside shower, which the family uses in the summer.

The entire family picks asparagus, squash, peppers, cabbage, and spinach at

various times during the year. Olga takes the infant, Linda, with her to the field, where

her sisters take turns watching the baby and picking vegetables. When the vegetable picking season is over, Pablo helps the farmer to maintain machinery and make repairs on

the property. Their income last year was $30,000.

From the middle of April until the end of May, the children attend school

sporadically because they are needed to help pick vegetables. During December and

January, the entire Gaborra family travels to Texas to visit relatives and friends, taking

them many presents. They return home in early February with numerous pills and herbal

medicines.

Olga was diagnosed with anemia when she had an obscure health problem with

her last pregnancy. Because she frequently complains of feeling tired and weak, the

farmer gave her the job of handing out “chits” to the vegetable pickers so that she did not

must do the more-strenuous work of picking vegetables.

Pablo has had tuberculosis for years and sporadically takes medication from a

local clinic. When he is not traveling or is too busy picking vegetables to make the trip to

the clinic for refills, he generally takes his medicine. Twice last year, the family had to

take Linda to the local emergency room because she had diarrhea and was listless and

unable to take liquids. The Gaborra family subscribes to the hot and cold theory of

disease and health-prevention maintenance.

Study Questions

1. Identify three socioecomonical factors that influence the health of the Gaborra family.

2. Name three health-teaching interventions the health-care provider might

use to encourage Olga to seek treatment for her anemia.

3. Identify strategies to help improve communications in English for the

Gaborra family.

4. Identify three health-teaching goals for the Gaborra family.

5. Name three interventions Olga must learn regarding fluid balance for the

infant, Linda.

6. Discuss three preventive maintenance–teaching activities that respect the

Gaborra family’s belief in the hot and cold theory of disease management.

7. Identify strategies for obtaining health data for the Gaborra family.

8. Identify four major health problems of Mexican Americans that affect the

Gaborra family.

9. If Olga were to see a folk practitioner, which one(s) would she seek?

10. Explain the concept of familism as exhibited in this family.

11. Distinguish between the two culture-bound syndromes el ataque and

susto.

12. Discuss culturally conscious health-care advice consistent with the health belief practices of the pregnant Mexican American woman.

13. Discuss two interventions to encourage Mexican American clients with

tuberculosis to keep clinic appointments and to comply with the prescribed

medication regimen.

14. Identify where the majority of Mexican Americans have settled in the

United States.

Answer 1

1.The socioeconomic factors that influence the Gaborra's family are

• Lack of education
• Instability in employment or occupation
• Very income of the family

2.The three health teaching interventions the healthcare professionals can provide are

• Health educate on the effects of anemia
• Dietary management in the home to increase the hemoglobin levels
• Encouraging to visit the primary care centers available services for treating anemia

3.Some of the strategy to improve communication in English are

• Encouraging to visit the community service program for learning English whenever the family members have time
• Encouraging to communicate in English in home with each other

4.The health teaching goals necessary for this family are

• Infection prevention techniques because Pablo being a case of TB and on treatment can infect the child because of low immunity
• Healthy eating pattern of having a balanced and nutritious diet in daily intake
• Encouraging to avoid alcohol and teaching about its harmful effects
• Educate on the effects of pills and herbal supplements without proper guidance and supervision.