Table III. Quotes Illustrating the Overarching Themes.
| Overarching Theme 1: Social Isolation | |
| “Not having a partner to be with creates loneliness; [you] miss the family. Then comes the state of depression, so that you do not care to do anything, […] nothing makes you happy. I think everyone goes through this, you know? And many people […] have no friends, […] do not go out anywhere, do not relate [to others]. […] They are engaged in work, they work sixteen hours and then the time they have they devote to sleep, […] and that creates separation from society, right? […] These isolated people enter a world […] of loneliness and depression.” FG 3 | |
| “It is the pros and cons; […] [alcohol] gets rid of the depression you have for not having a family, but it also, on the other hand, screws you. […] No, there is no good option […] but to drink.” FG 1 | |
| “Well, there is sometimes loneliness […] that leads us to […] let's say, drink […] when you have a sick child and you want to be with [the family] … But unfortunately we cannot [go back] because we come for a time to gather some money for our children to study, more than anything.” FG 2 | |
| “I think us, as men, should walk around with condoms in the bag for emergencies [jokes and laughter behind]. Have them [the condoms] because we do not know at what time the opportunity [for having sex] will present itself and, frankly, we are so starved [for sex] that letting go of an opportunity is not…not so tasty … [laughs].” FG 3 | |
| “A lot of these men are dealing with substance abuse issues, mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, and a lot of that stems from unstable social circumstances regarding separation from their families and fear while living out of their own home country.” Interview J | |
| Overarching Theme 2: Staying healthy | |
| “We are not careful in the sense that we work too much. Sometimes we even have two jobs; an average of sixteen hours. For example, [we] do not have time to go to a hospital or eating on time. We are running all the time and we don't eat on time, we leave that for later […] neglected” FG 1 | |
| “I do drink beer from time to time but it must be done with a limit, […] I drink one or two or maybe three [beers] after work or with dinner. But one drinks one or two beers; one eats well, one does sports. We maintain a balance, right?” FG 4 | |
| “Sports are very good […] and let's practice it as many times as we can. I like jogging, I like to go to the field to play ball, I like to go swimming, […] but I do not have anybody to go with me to a pool and spend two hours swimming. That [swimming] fascinates me, but I don't have the right person to go with.” FG 3 | |
| “The idea too that here, we're used to yearly physicals, vaccinations, this and that. Education, because the guys – that's not common in Mexico. People go to the doctor when they're sick and that's it. They don't do preventative care.” Interview G | |
| “Preventive care is just not something they're maybe used to, so they don't do it here. It's not ‘til there's an emergency, and then it's much harder to find someone to treat them.” Interview H | |
| Overarching Theme 3: Accessing the healthcare system | |
| “Many of us take precautions or have the fear when we come to a hospital or […] use a service, one is fearful just because we do not know how to speak English […] They may speak to security or an important person and they can report you to immigration. […] Also, [participant name] […] went to the hospital and they billed him for a lot of money. [He] already has the idea of where to go, as he says, to another state where it is cheaper or easier to find medications than here in Pittsburgh.” FG1 | |
| “If it is a hernia or something and it is very expensive, […] I'd better go to Mexico.” FG 1 | |
| “I was not yet convinced to go to a hospital, I almost died. Then, […] I went to the store with the guy; he gave me a ride as well. […] That was how I could go to the hospital.” FG 3 | |
| “There's a lady who worked at [STORE]. She gets me this help. It's been two years since I met her there. All is well, and you go there […] and we arrived at the hospital.” FG 3 | |
| “The whole flying under the radar thing that I mentioned before, where people may not have a permanent address or have moved around a lot, and so it's hard to reach clients and get information from them, [get] the documentation that you need to even help them try to plow through the system.” Interview B | |
| “It is the bad orientation we have, the not knowing… no communication, not knowing about where to go and what rights we do have. We don't know what our rights are.” FG 1 | |
| “Part of the barriers they face here, […] is our own [Latino] cultural values and men are kind of expected to be kind of this strong, steadfast character, and kind of bite the bullet through everything that comes.” Interview F | |