The relationship of acculturation and folk medical beliefs in recently emigrated Mexican nationals

Migrants from Mexico constitute a powerful force in the Latinization of the country as they represent the largest migration flow in the history of the continent. One of the great concerns is how the U.S. healthcare system can handle the increase in demand posed by so many non English-speaking people.;One widely held view is that a health crisis exists in part because Mexican immigrants are particularly resistant to change when compared to other immigrant populations. Several decades of research on the rate of acculturation of Mexican immigrants purports that change in attitudes, beliefs and behaviors does not occur intragenerationally. Rather, only second generation Mexican Americans are thought to adopt cognitions---about health or otherwise---similar to native U.S. citizens. What has been troubling about these studies is that they attempt to measure the rate of acculturation in Mexican immigrant populations based upon whether the participants prefer to speak Spanish as opposed to English during the interview process. Given that many first generation immigrants still favor Spanish over English, it has been believed this itself is evidence of a general resistance to acculturation.;The current study provides evidence to the contrary. The results of this research demonstrate that despite Spanish being the language of choice for all interviewees, change in health-related cognitions and behaviors is occurring in subpopulations heretofore thought resistant to change: the elderly; those from rural areas of Mexico; the uneducated, among others. 39 women who had resided less than 5 years and 23 who had lived more than 5 years in the U.S. were posed the same questions regarding their beliefs about health and illness. The results of this inquiry were robust. Differences between the recently arrived and the veteran immigrants were discernible for the following themes: diet and exercise; cognitive models of health; beliefs about how people should act when sick; knowledge about and utilization of complementary and alternative medicine; belief in curanderismo, the "traditional" healing system of Latin America; understanding of viral theory and proper antibiotic usage; and understanding of the emotional and physical effects of stress and depression.