CHR Researchers Highlight Nothern Santa Barbara County Residents Concerns about Housing and Healthcare
Housing, healthcare, and access to recreational activities are the biggest health barriers faced by Latinos and indigenous populations in Guadalupe and Santa Maria, according to a new community health needs assessment conducted by CHR investigators in 2021. The team of researchers, led by Drs. Marilyn Tseng and Suzanne Phelan, conducted focus groups and surveyed 159 residents, mostly from Spanish and indigenous populations. They published their findings in November of 2024 in Discover Social Science and Health and are continuing to work with the community members to identify local needs.
“The main goal is to continue collaborating with community partners, in projects that are meaningful to our community partners, “ Tseng said. “Documenting health inequities is important – particularly from the perspective of community members. Finding solutions that come from those community members is also more important now than ever.
This is not the first community needs health assessment conducted in Santa Barbara County in the last five years, but the researchers said their mixed-methods approach in the Northern part of the county helped to identify unique challenges facing underserved communities in Guadalupe and Santa Maria. They had Spanish and Mixtec translators, recruited within the community, and sent multi-language surveys.
Guadalupe and Santa Maria are in Santa Barbara County, but the cities’ demographics differ from the rest of the County. In 2018-2019, residents of Northern Santa Barbara were less likely to have a college degree and were more likely to work lower wage jobs compared to residents in the rest of Santa Barbara County. In addition, Latinos make up nearly 80 percent of Santa Maria’s population and nearly 90 percent of Guadalupe’s population. These differences inspired CHR investigators to do a specific needs assessment only looking at these two cities.
“When you asked someone what their health concerns are, they normally answer diabetes or blood pressure,” Phelan said. “But in this assessment their identified unique factors like housing.”
To help reach as many community members as possible, researchers helped to launch a social movement for community health ownership, Mi Gente Nuestra Salud, partnering with local government and health officials and community advocates. Bilingual research assistants then recruited participants at food distribution sites, stores, clinics and parks inviting participants to participate in focus groups, interviews, and surveys. Participants received small incentives for completing the measures.
Of those who participated, 54 completed the long version of the survey and 102 did a shorter version. Twenty-four of these then participated in a focus group.
From the 24 multi language interviews, researchers said housing insecurity was the primary issue. Participants described high rents and poor housing conditions as most concerning.
“Many families come in only one room. And a lot of people are in those homes and those homes are infected with pests. I know many units in my community where we have reached out, and we can see how deteriorated the units are,” one participant said in an interview.
Their marginalized status, access to dental and other healthcare, work conditions, and neighborhood safety were other major concerns.
In addition to publishing, Tseng and her team are using the community collaborations they formed during this project to do more community-based research in the area, something she says is especially important now. Most recently, they partnered with Corazon del Pueblo to conduct a mixed methods study to explore how Latina mother-daughter pairs spend their time, and where. At the end of the study, participants showcased photos they took of their community at the Santa Maria Public Library.
