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Lombard, IL —
Unanswered questions Addison resident Fanny Martinez had running through her mind recently evolved into a 90-page research paper.
As her senior year at Dominican University was slowly coming to end, Martinez decided she’d look into the experiences of undocumented Latinas in the Chicago area with regard to reproductive healthcare.
How do they afford it? Are they able to get reliable healthcare? Are they educated of exams and precautionary measures?
The results were surprising.
"Some of them I knew, and friends connected me to others," the 21-year-old Martinez said of the dozen women she interviewed for her paper. "Most of the women had very little, if not inaccurate, information about reproductive health and concerns.”
According to her findings for the class project, the main reasons why the undocumented Latinas had trouble with reproductive healthcare services were immigration status, lack of employment and education opportunities, economic and social instability, inadequate communication and lack of support from relatives and partners.
The women, who range in age from 19 to 53, seemed to be misinformed about so many different topics, such as when to get a mammogram or pelvic examination, or how to take birth control.
Despite the negative-sounding results, Martinez did see a light at the end of the tunnel. Many of the women said they were able to find affordable healthcare services at organizations throughout DuPage County.
The thesis highlights Access DuPage in particular, an Addison-based agency that provides medical services to low-income patients. Part of the agency’s mission is to offer preventative care and screening, and to collaborate with hospitals to provide low-cost health care, all in order to cut down on, say, a costly emergency room visit down the road.
Several of the undocumented women Martinez interviewed said they look to Access DuPage for services, such as breast exams. Access DuPage does not inquire about immigration status when providing care.
“It is not relevant to the way that we provide care,” said Access DuPage Executive Director Kara Murphy, adding that the group’s mission is to better the health of the entire county. “And we recognize that there’s a broad spectrum of folks living here.”
It’s likely that they work with some undocumented immigrants, Murphy said, but it would only be a small portion of all patients. Either way, they would not be directly receiving taxpayer funds.
The nonprofit is primarily funded by private sources and area hospitals. Public money, mostly in the form of grants, accounts for only about 8 percent of the $4.3 million Access DuPage has received so far this year.
Unanswered questions Addison resident Fanny Martinez had running through her mind recently evolved into a 90-page research paper.
As her senior year at Dominican University was slowly coming to end, Martinez decided she’d look into the experiences of undocumented Latinas in the Chicago area with regard to reproductive healthcare.
How do they afford it? Are they able to get reliable healthcare? Are they educated of exams and precautionary measures?
The results were surprising.
"Some of them I knew, and friends connected me to others," the 21-year-old Martinez said of the dozen women she interviewed for her paper. "Most of the women had very little, if not inaccurate, information about reproductive health and concerns.”
According to her findings for the class project, the main reasons why the undocumented Latinas had trouble with reproductive healthcare services were immigration status, lack of employment and education opportunities, economic and social instability, inadequate communication and lack of support from relatives and partners.
The women, who range in age from 19 to 53, seemed to be misinformed about so many different topics, such as when to get a mammogram or pelvic examination, or how to take birth control.
Despite the negative-sounding results, Martinez did see a light at the end of the tunnel. Many of the women said they were able to find affordable healthcare services at organizations throughout DuPage County.
The thesis highlights Access DuPage in particular, an Addison-based agency that provides medical services to low-income patients. Part of the agency’s mission is to offer preventative care and screening, and to collaborate with hospitals to provide low-cost health care, all in order to cut down on, say, a costly emergency room visit down the road.
Several of the undocumented women Martinez interviewed said they look to Access DuPage for services, such as breast exams. Access DuPage does not inquire about immigration status when providing care.
“It is not relevant to the way that we provide care,” said Access DuPage Executive Director Kara Murphy, adding that the group’s mission is to better the health of the entire county. “And we recognize that there’s a broad spectrum of folks living here.”
It’s likely that they work with some undocumented immigrants, Murphy said, but it would only be a small portion of all patients. Either way, they would not be directly receiving taxpayer funds.
The nonprofit is primarily funded by private sources and area hospitals. Public money, mostly in the form of grants, accounts for only about 8 percent of the $4.3 million Access DuPage has received so far this year.
Access DuPage seeks to help the patients who do not qualify for any other resource — work insurance or Medicaid, for instance. That lack of access is prevalent in the undocumented immigrant Latina population, according to Martinez’s thesis.
“Other counties should develop and provide similar medical programs because they give undocumented women a chance to ensure that their reproductive health care needs are met,” Martinez wrote.
Throughout the 90 pages, she quotes many of the stories most of the women faced from immigrating to settling into their new lives, and how their reproductive health has suffered in some ways throughout their time here.
One woman, Sonia, talks about why she has not had a breast exam.
"First of all, because I don't have enough knowledge towards why I should do it,” Sonia told Martinez. “I don't feel that priority relates to me, which is bad because, it's, you know — it's my breast."
Martinez identifies the issues preventing Sonia from getting her exam: lack of knowledge, time and interest.
Various screenings, such as for breast and cervical cancers and sexually transmitted diseases, are some that these women have not had.
After presenting her research during the annual Exposition of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Investigations in April at Dominican, Martinez said her advisers are going to help her get the paper published this summer.
Martinez also was one of only 10 graduating seniors at Dominican to complete such a project this year, earning a degree with distinction.
“(It) is something independent of a course,” said Krissy Peterson, Dominican University spokeswoman. “This is not normal for students to complete.”
—Brian Hudson contributed to this report.
About Fanny Martinez
AGE 22
RESIDENCE Addison
HOMETOWN Mexico City, Mexico; Came to the U.S. in 2002
FAMILY Husband
EDUCATION Honors bachelor’s degree in sociology, Dominican University
