Essay On Spanish Culture And Health Care

The increasing population of immigrants in the United States has contributed to health disparities in the health care system. Cultural competence can remove health disparities by eliminating personal biases, and treating every person with respect. Simply recognizing and accepting different cultures is not enough, one must be able to consistently recognize and understand the differences in order to be culturally competent. Knowledge and culturally competent practices are a must for nurses to deliver quality care in our rapidly changing multicultural world (Edelman, 2014 p. 25).

“Americans can take come pride in the fact that attaining what the medical profession calls “cultural competency” is a goal of most health care institutions. However, achieving this goal in today’s health care environment, filled with diverse patient and provider populations, is no easy task. American hospitals are increasingly being staffed by and serving diverse populations. This creates the ideal breeding ground for conflict and misunderstanding among the staff and inferior patient care” (Galanti, 2011). To gain a more thorough understanding of this concept, I will be giving four examples or viewpoints that are completely different, when looking at the Hispanic belief against the Native American point of view.

It is well known that the United States is made up of several different cultures and the health care system delivers care to a very diverse population. However, depending on ones culture-receiving care may be a challenge at times. In this paper we are going to take a closer look at the culture of Hispanic Americans. The Hispanic population has grown to over 55 million residents with in the United States in 2015, with an estimated growth rate of 2.1% per year (Krogstad & Lopez, 2015). Making this minority group on of the fastest growing populations within the United States (DeNisco & Barker, 2016).

Social organization based on premises of family values, respect to older generations and deference to healthcare staff, physicians and nurses (Grady, 2014). Time concept is considered in this group and many activities can be performed at the same time. Priority, in this case, is given to an activity that person can be related to. Knowing this, healthcare providers should consider spending slightly more time with this patient. Environmental factors play and definitive role in close-knit Hispanic/Latino communities. Social influences can change and influence health related behaviors, and major domain is immediate and extended family (Larsen, Pekmezi, Marquez, Benitez, & Marcus,

With the increasing immigrant population a third barrier affecting access to health care is a cultural barrier. Culture barriers can include values and beliefs, language and race and ethnicity. Health beliefs and behavior can become a barrier when patients decide not to seek medical treatment and instead turn to home remedies and healers when treating illnesses. Approximately 10% of Americans speak a language other than English and can be classified ad being limited in their proficiency. For these patients language becomes a barrier and they are less likely to receive optimal medical treatment (Flores, 2006). Horton and Johnson (2010) stress the importance of communication in reducing disparities and increasing the trust of patients in the health care system. As reported by the American College of Physicians, evidence reveals that racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to receive inferior care when compared with non-minorities. This occurs even when minorities have access to insurance and adequate income (Racial and ethnic disparities in health care, 2010).

Critically analyse one of the main challenges, barriers, and enablers for cultural competence in health care when working in a cross-cultural environment.

In the preparation of writing this paper, I reviewed several educational videos from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.) that show healthcare providers interacting with patients from different cultures. I chose the video that shows a Hispanic man interacting with his surgeon. I chose this video because all counties in Ohio except one are seeing increases in the Hispanic population. There has been a nine

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

In the United States today cultural diversity is growing more prevalent every day. The report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM: Unequal treatment, 2002) presented information that racial and ethnic minorities of all ages receive lower quality health care compared to their non-minority counterparts. Every effort should be made to stop the disparities surrounding cultural differences while attempting to understand the cultural health behaviors, increase cultural

In the United States society is well aware that hispanics have been treated with a negative attitude in the health care providing services. Just like anybody else no matter what race they are, they should have the same treatment. This situation needs to be more acknowledged and better controlled. White patients have received better quality of care than any other race including black americans, hispanics, american indians, and asian patients. One might argue that the health care providers are free to express their opinion however they like, but just like any job these health care providers have to treat everyone the same and make them feel comfortable. “ Negative implicit attitudes about people of color may contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care.” In many cases health care providers have implicit bias in terms of positive attitudes towards whites and negative attitudes towards any other color. “Fifteen relevant studies were identified through searches of bibliographic databases and reference lists of studies that met inclusion criteria.”

Understanding the hierarchy of the family is imperative in understanding the functions of the family unit. With some familiarity with the different cultures in a given community, a medical professional will be able to ascertain who the head of the household is. The head of the household differs from culture to culture, as such, “misunderstandings which include but are not limited to the involvement of the male in all aspects of health care

When clinically assessing patients in care settings, it is paramount for health professionals to elicit pertinent information that could be crucial for delivery of care. This is particularly important in the United States because the increasing diversity in racial and ethnic composition of the population has presented cultural challenges that care givers must navigate to provide culturally competent service. Cultural competence during delivery of care requires sensitivity to the cultural, social, and linguistic needs of patients (Betancourt, Green, Carrillo, 2002). As a consequence, care providers need cultural assessment tools that will enable them

When researching the topic of cultural competence in healthcare, I decided to write about an article from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy entitled Cultural Competency in Health Care and Its Implications for Pharmacy Part 2: Emphasis on Pharmacy Systems and Practice by Mary Beth O’Connell, Pharm. D., FCCP, Nathaniel M. Rickles, Pharm. D., Ph.D., Jeri J. Sias, Pharm. D., and Eli J. Korner, Pharm. D., M.P.H. I picked this article because it emphasizes the importance of being culturally aware as a pharmacist.

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.

B.’s informal support systems consist of family, which a family member is his caregiver. Mr. B.’s niece is taking care of him in trade of her staying with him. Most of the care received for elderly is provided by informal caregivers, most of whom are family. Family members now often provide support in areas that were, until recently, the domain of the professional caregivers. Ruiz & Ransfor, (2012) explains, familismo is a framework for family care that helps elders deal with health challenge. Foremost, familismo emphasizes intergenerational solidarity, obligation, respect and a duty to care for one’s own. Mr. B’s formal support is his health care team and other agencies that provide needed resources.