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

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• Author: Ebony Williams,Kimberly Greder,Dahee Kim,Juan Bao,Na‐Omi Hassane Dan Karami
• Date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12884

RESEARCH

Navigating health and well-being during the

COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of Latina

immigrant mothers in rural Midwestern communities

Ebony Williams

1

|Kimberly Greder

2

|Dahee Kim

3

|

Juan Bao

4

|Na-Omi Hassane Dan Karami

2

1

School of Social Work, Louisiana State

University, Baton Rouge, LA

2

Department of Human Development and

Family Studies, Iowa State University,

Ames, IA

3

Department of Human Development and

Family Studies, University of Connecticut,

Mansfield, CT

4

Public Policy Center, Health Policy Research

Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Correspondence

Kimberly Greder, Iowa State University,

56 LeBaron Hall, 626 Morrill Rd., Ames, IA

50011, USA.

Email: kgreder@iastate.edu

Funding information

This study was supported by the Iowa

Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment

Station (Project No. IOW04016, Kimberly

Greder, PI), Ames, Iowa.

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 pan-

demic 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 prac-

tices, 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.

Author note: We have no known conflicts of interest to disclose.

Received: 10 October 2022Revised: 6 March 2023Accepted: 26 March 2023

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12884

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2023 The Authors. Family Relations published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2023;72:1549–1568. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1549

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 poli-

cies and practices to protect health during public health crises.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19, family health, immigrant, Latino, Midwest

INTRODUCTION

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to a major public health crisis and

harmed the health, economic, and emotional welfare of people worldwide and across the

United States (Devlin & Kent, 2021; Horowitz et al., 2021). In the United States, large metro-

politan areas gathered the most attention during the pandemic due to their large number of

cases and deaths. However, rural areas where cases and deaths fluctuated during the pandemic

are missing from the conversation (Karim & Chen, 2021; Peters, 2020). Many of the COVID-

19 outbreaks in the Midwest occurred in rural communities that have meatpacking and food

processing plants (United States Department of Agriculture, 2021), both of which employ a

large number of Latino and other immigrants (Artiga & Rae, 2020).

Uneven impact of COVID-19

Living and working conditions

The pandemic has disproportionately affected minoritized communities and immigrants in

low-income communities due to disparities they experience in working situations and health care

(Clark et al., 2020; Rozenfeld et al., 2020), as well as the likelihood that they live in unstable and

crowded conditions in underresourced areas, earn less, and have lower savings (Rocha, 2020).

Reduced work hours and becoming unemployed were two significant economic consequences of the

pandemic among immigrants and have had enormous impacts on their ability to pay for rent and

utilities or purchase food supplies (Santiago et al., 2021; Villatoro et al., 2022). A study in Colorado

showed that the number of cases, hospitalization, and deaths were highest among Latino adults due

to multiple family members living together, the types of jobs they held, expectations to go to work

when ill, and delays in being tested for the COVID-19 virus (Podewils et al., 2020). These disparities

were compounded before the pandemic by immigration policies during the Trump administration

that heightened immigrants’fears and increased their hesitancy to access assistance, including health

coverage, health care, stimulus checks, and federal food assistance (e.g., Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program [SNAP]; Hamel et al., 2021; Rocha, 2020). Lack of health insurance among

immigrants compounded stress they experienced during the pandemic as they worried about hospital

bills if they or someone in their family became infected (Santiago et al., 2021).

Additionally, during early stages of the pandemic many workers were encouraged to stay

home and work remotely. However, Latino immigrants employed in service and agricultural

industries had fewer or no opportunities to work remotely (Clark et al., 2020). Whereas many

individuals employed in the service industry (e.g., restaurants) experienced a reduction in work

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