“They are Always Looking After Us”: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding How Transnational Families from the INCAP Longitudinal Study Cope with Health Crises in El Progreso, Guatemala Open Access
Zuniga De La Cerda, Regina (Spring 2018)
Abstract
Background: Since 1997 Guatemalan migrants were workers seeking economic opportunities and stability in the United States.
Purpose: Develop a holistic understanding of migration and its effects among sending families in El Progreso, Guatemala.
Methods: Cross-sectional mixed methods approach with triangulation. The participation rate of those approached was of 60 percent, for a total of 140 respondents for the quantitative. This sample became the universe of the qualitative phase; 13 participants were selected purposively for in-depth interviews.
Results: International migration is often the last resource for families in their hopes to prosper. They became migrants to have “a better future”. Migrants rely on the social network of migrants, which facilitates and perpetuates chain migration from the sending community to the United States. From the sending family’s perspective, the journey to reach the destination is challenging. However, migrants endure the hardships of migrating by land because the benefits outweigh immediate risks. The immediate effect of migration is a sense of family fragmentation in Guatemala that eventually resulted in the emergence of transnational families in the long-term. Transnational families stay together through continual communication and the flow remittances. The familial bond seems to be directly related to a “responsibility” or “promise” to remit to Guatemala. All parents and siblings talked about how their relatives are committed to helping support parents in their old age, as a gesture of gratitude for all that parents gave them. Having a family member living in the United States becomes a safety net for Guatemalan families, especially in terms of seeking medical care in health crisis. An emergency that involves aging parents, leads to an increase of communication and remittances.
Discussion: Migration enables sending families to access healthcare and provides different ways for migrants to care for their families, thus increasing the inequalities in the sending communities.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Introduction and Rationale 1
Problem Statement 2
The purpose Statement 2
Significance Statement 3
Chapter 2: Comprehensive Review of the Literature 4
Historical context of Guatemala 4
Poverty in Guatemala 6
Migration from Guatemala to the United States 7
The connected migrant 8
Remittances 10
Effects of migration in the sending communities 11
Guatemala’s Healthcare System 12
Chapter 3: Methods 14
Introduction to the INCAP Longitudinal Study 14
Quantitative methods 16
Population and Sample 16
Participant recruitment 17
Participants 17
Procedures 18
Instrumentation 18
Analysis 19
Qualitative methods 20
Participants and sample size 20
Participant recruitment 20
Participants 20
Instrumentation 21
Analysis 22
Ethical considerations 23
Limitations and Delimitations 23
Chapter 4: Results 24
Becoming an economic migrant 26
Relying on their social network for support 28
Migration experience by land 29
The risks of the journey – crossing both Mexico and the United States borders 32
Staying connected via transnational communication 32
Keeping the promise to support their family in Guatemala 34
Illness is a family concern 37
Death of a parent reunites transnational families and demonstrates community solidarity 39
Chapter 4: Discussion 42
Economic burden of illness in poor rural households 42
Remittances enable poor households to access healthcare 43
Transnational caregiving for ageing parents 44
Limitations 46
Research implications and Recommendations 46
Conclusion 46
References 48
Appendices 51
Appendix 1: Quantitative questionnaire 51
Appendix 2: Quantitative informed consent form 58
Appendix 3: In-depth interview guide 61
Appendix 4: Qualitative informed consent form 64
Appendix 5: Letters of IRB approval 67
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