To understand the health and safety concerns of Korean immigrant women nail salon workers in the Greater New York City area and their experiences of health seeking and health service utilization, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using interpretive hermeneutic phenomenology. Most worried about working in nail salons and experienced work-related health symptoms. However, they were disinclined toward personal protective device use because of discomfort and inconvenience. Major barriers to healthcare utilization limited their healthcare use to times when they had intolerable symptoms, preventing opportunities for regular screening tests. To overcome these limitations, workers actively sought available resources and health-related information online and through personal networks, the latter facilitated by living in a Korean community. Despite efforts to maintain their health and manage their symptoms, Korean nail salon workers worried about getting sick as they got older due to prolonged occupational chemical exposure and limited healthcare access. Appropriate education and intervention should aim to resolve current barriers to personal protective device use and healthcare use and provide a source of care for uninsured workers.
Keywords: Health disparities; Healthcare utilization; Hermeneutics; Immigrants; Korean; Nail salon workers.