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Essay On Hispanic Elderly

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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 …show more content…

(2) Disparities between the health of persons with mental illness as compared with that of those without, or (3) disparities between populations with respect to mental health and the quality, accessibility, and outcomes of mental health care ( Safran, M. A., Mays Jr, R. A., Huang, L. N., et al.,2009). Elderly immigrants are among the nation’s most vulnerable minority groups due to their limited health literacy ( Cordaso, Asch, Franco, & Magione, 2009) and serious health disparities, with many experiencing significantly worse health outcomes as compared to other groups. The term elderly immigrants refers to individuals 65 years of age or older who were not born in the United States (Leach,

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