Health-Seeking Behaviors of Immigrant Nigerian Men

Providing culturally sensitive health care to diverse population of immigrant Nigerian men would be enhanced by better understanding their experiences with the health care system and their perceptions of health, wellness, and illness. Immigrant Nigerian men are visually classified as African Americans and perceived as having similar attitudes, beliefs, and health-seeking behaviors. Statistics portrays that many of the chronic and infectious diseases that disproportionately affect African Americans (such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hepatitis B, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) are burdensome to African immigrants, including immigrant Nigerian men. African immigrants are three times more likely to be infected by hepatitis B virus than Asian immigrants, and four times more likely to infected than European immigrants. However, unlike African Americans, immigrant Nigerian men also have other unique health needs. Preventive health strategies used for African Americans can be applied to immigrant Nigerian men; however, accessibility to health insurance poses unique challenges to them.