Nursing Home Utilization Of The Latino Population

In rural Iowa, there are few individuals who are knowledgeable of the Hispanic culture due to the small number of Hispanic individuals that have sought out care in the past. Recently, there has been an influx the number of Hispanic Americans seeking care in this area, making the delivery of culturally sensitive communication and care an important topic. According to DeNisco & Barker (2016), the nature of nursing care encompasses the need to be aware of cultural diversity (p. 581). Meaning that nurses need to strive for cultural competence to reach the societies expectations in the delivery of nursing care (DeNisco & Barker, 2016). We are going to take a look at how nurses can make a few changes that will make providing culturally competent care to the Hispanic population easier in these settings.

Throughout this first chapter of Latino Americans the key points in my opinion were the following. Starting with the origin story of the Americas, the book mentions there might not be a definitive starting point because there “500 nations in North America before a European ship ever dropped anchor off the Eastern Seaboard” (Suarez 3). The book from this point on chronologically starts narrating, first about 55 years before Protestant refugees from Mayflower ever stepped on American soil, a Spanish sailor Pedro Menendez de Aviles forced French protestants from their Florida coast settlement to then stablish St. Augustine. From this point the book continues to tell the stories of Juan de Oñate, from witnessing the founding of Santa Fe, the oldest capital of North America, to exploring more than half a dozen of American states, he is one of the most fundamental conquistadors who is the least

The challenge America now faces is the number of people reaching retirement will double in number by 2030, and the U.S. population will increase almost 20 percent ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). The goal is for the elderly to maintain and live with independence and dignity, as well as, provide a wide range of professional health and social service expertise, home care, and residential support and services that will be needed ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). Since the number of caregivers needed for this population will not be able to meet the demands other resolutions are considered necessary.

Long-term care can be defined as a broad set of paid and unpaid services for people who are mentally or physically disabled, or whose chronic illness places them in need of medical or personal assistance for long periods of time. “It is estimated that there are more than twelve million Americans of all ages whose mix of serious disability and chronic illness places them at the high risk for functional decline, hospitalization, or nursing home placement.” (Benjamin) Several different populations require long-term care services, and the needs of these populations vary. In addition to the elderly, many of the long-term care users are younger persons with physical disabilities; persons with developmental disabilities; and persons with chronic

This study focused on what the Mexican American feel about taking care of their elders at home and the affects it has on them. Also, the aim for this study was to gather information about the culture of this group so it can be used instrument to help this particular group. This was a quantitative study. In this study many different methods were used to gather their information. 193

Nursing is generally viewed as a simple profession were you learn to take blood pressure, temperature and smile. However in reality nurses are the most reliable people the vulnerable population trust during the time of need. The vulnerable population include the mentally challenged, the unborn, those with few financial or social resources and those with cases as the incarcerated and the immigrants. The nurses also play an important role in promoting social justices. The nurses apply the ethical principles of justice to care for this venerable population with very limited funds. To provide nursing care to this population, nurses avoid to be judgmental and focus to care for the client as a person not a criminal in order to deliver effective nursing care. For example a study conducted by Kim-Lu, D. (2015).found that despite the expected impact of the Affordable Care Act in reducing uninsured rates, future efforts to remedy the barriers to access to healthcare for the Asian American subgroups will require a multifaceted approach that moves towards integrating vulnerable populations, such as immigrants, into the mainstream healthcare system and establishes targeted interventions such as language assistance and comprehensive case management services.

Statistics show that the Columbus, Ohio metro area is becoming more diverse. Even though the majority of the population is made up of Whites, that percentage is decreasing while the percentage of Blacks, Latinos and Asians is increasing (Diversity Data, 2012). I work in an outpatient unit that serves a diverse patient population, and Leininger’s concepts of transcultural nursing highlight the importance of learning about the cultural influences that affect the health and wellness of ethnic populations (Andrews & Boyle, 2016). Transcultural nursing addresses cultural influences such as values, beliefs, and behavior and examines how they affect health and wellness. In this paper, I will discuss perceptions of health and illness in the Hispanic community, examine the overarching issue presented in a video that I reviewed, discuss what can be done to overcome the issue in the video, and share a barrier that I experience in my nursing practice and how I overcome the barrier.

Being born in a predominately Hispanic city was not always an easy thing to do. The issues of discrimination would and still reflect the amount of medical aid Hispanic children receive. After graduation, I would like to attend a university and accomplish a career of being a PharMD. With the powers that come with achieving this degree, I would like to invest not only economically, but as well put in time to start new reforms for children and adult medical aid for Hispanics in Texas.

Thank you for the post, it was informative and educational. Adding some highlights on the health disparities between the Latinos and the Caucasian, there is greater socioeconomic difference between the Caucasian. According to the 2000 census, the number of Latinos in the United States has increased by approximately 60 percent, from 23 million in 1990 to 35.3 million in 2000 (Leo, Marielena, Raynard, Robert, & Jose, 2002). Statistics illustrates that the Latinos population is one of the fastest-growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States today.

Latinos, collectively the nation's largest minority group, vary substantially in terms of socioeconomic and legal status, their country of origin and the extent of ongoing contact with that country, their region of residence within the United States, their generation status and levels of acculturation, and psychosocial factors (Elder, Ayala, Parra-Medina, & Talavera, 2009). Due to these various issues navigating the health care system can prove difficult especially when it comes to the end of life care, it is prevalent in the Mexican culture for the elderly to be taken care of by their younger family members such as their children. However, if they have a major illness or the family simply don’t have the ability to take care of them anymore

The Hispanic elderly characterize a large, ethnically diverse group with many subgroups, such as Mexican Americans, Mexican Nationals, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. There has been a dramatic increase in the older Hispanic population on the United States –Mexican border (U.S. Census Bureau 2000). Hispanic Americans, mostly of the Mexican origin, will be the largest minority group in the United States with 62.8 million people by the year 2030. In El Paso County (Texas), 78% of the population is Hispanic of whom Mexicans are the largest subgroup, the Hispanic elderly (60 years and older) comprise 67% of the elderly population (U.S. Census Bureau 2000). This increase have contributed to a number of problems, including poor health conditions, lack of health insurance, increased incidence of chronic diseases, high rates of poverty, and unemployment. The future provision of care to older adults in the United States will be influenced by anticipated demographic changes including increasing life expectancies, declining birth rates among the general U.S. population, and increases in aging populations among

The fear of deportation puts an added burden on the caregiver, who may not be aware of the health care services available. In addition, research suggests that Latinas are less likely to seek outside help as there are few services that address the needs of Spanish speaking individuals. Most live in communities where health and social services are extremely limited (Land & Guada, 2011). Lack of immigration documentation prohibits qualification for mental and health benefits, which adds to additional stress to the caregiver (Dennenberg, 1997; Land, 1994).

There exist significant racial disparities in nursing home (NH) care quality. Although some improvements have been made in recent years, Blacks are still more likely to receive suboptimal care in this setting, compared to Whites (1). Blacks are also more likely to be admitted to poorer quality NH’s than Whites (2). There also tend to be racial disparities in psychosocial well-being among NH residents, as determined by lower social engagement among Blacks versus Whites (3). These findings are particularly alarming provided that the proportion of Blacks aged 65 and older who live in NH’s has increased dramatically, while the number of Whites in NH’s has declined (4).

Nursing is generally viewed as a simple profession where you learn to take blood pressure, temperature, and smile. However, in reality, nurses are the most reliable people the vulnerable population trust during the time of need. The vulnerable population includes the mentally challenged, the unborn, those with few financial or social resources and those with cases as the incarcerated and the immigrants. The nurses also play an important role in promoting social justices. The nurses apply the ethical principles of justice to care for this venerable population with very limited funds. To provide nursing care to this population, nurses avoid to be judgmental and focus on caring for the client as a person not a criminal in order to deliver effective nursing care. For example a study conducted by Kim-Lu, D. (2015).found that despite the expected impact of the Affordable Care Act in reducing uninsured rates, future efforts to remedy the barriers to access to healthcare for the Asian American subgroups will require a multifaceted approach that moves towards integrating vulnerable populations, such as immigrants, into the mainstream healthcare system and establishes targeted interventions such as language assistance and comprehensive case management services.

I chose this article because I find it interesting and of great help to any nursing and health care professional; I am Hispanic myself and constantly looking for better ways to help my community. I personally see my grandmother struggling whenever she needs to see her physician, as she sometimes does not understand what him and his staff are telling her. On another note nursing is an ever changing career and the Hispanic culture is growing at an enormous rate, becoming culturally competent does not only provide the patient with good care but can make the nurses’ job easier and more rewarding. I do feel that there should be more research on this subject; the best way to learn about a patient’s cultural beliefs is to ask the patient. I think that the population that the author intended to target is health care professionals; however, I know that any immigrant can benefit from reading this article.