Navigating health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of Latina immigrant mothers in rural Midwestern communities

Abstract

Objective: In this study, we sought to gain insight into the challenges Latina immigrant mothers in rural Midwest communities encountered during the pandemic, strategies they employed to avoid infection of the virus, and impacts of the pandemic on family health and well-being. Background: In rural Midwestern communities, the pandemic disproportionately affected immigrants, many of whom are Latino and worked in meatpacking and food processing plants. Latina mothers are commonly viewed as caretakers of the family. This prescribed role placed mothers at the center of safeguarding their families' health during the pandemic. Method: In this descriptive study, we conducted individual interviews with 124 Latina immigrant mothers across six rural Midwestern communities who participated in one of two previous studies in the communities. Thematic analyses was used to identify themes that aligned with three areas of interest: challenges experienced, strategies employed to avoid virus infection, and impacts of the pandemic on family health and well-being. Results: Mothers enacted behaviors (e.g., sanitation practices, wore masks, stayed home) to lessen negative impacts of the pandemic on family health and well-being. Factors beyond their control (e.g., public policies, work policies and practices) placed families at greater risk for poor health and well-being. Eleven themes were identified that aligned with the three areas of interest. Conclusion: Findings build upon and extend prior research that reexposed unjust employment conditions, inadequate health-care systems, and an anti-immigrant context during the pandemic that perpetuated health disparities among Latino immigrants and other minoritized populations. Implications: Ethnographic and longitudinal studies that give voice to populations underrepresented in COVID-19 research and at high risk for poor health are warranted to inform policies and practices to protect health during public health crises.