Hispanic Medical Practices, Beliefs, And Perceptions Essay

The following is a case study of a 41 year-old Mexican American woman who was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Although culturally Mexico closely identifies with Central and South American countries, however, it is situated in North America.

Hispanics households with low socioeconomic status and low education coupled with low diabetes awareness have high type 2 diabetes prevalence 9. The high prevalence rates of type 2 diabetes can be attributed to a number of reasons such as; the Latinos have a genetic tendency to develop insulin resistance and they face high risks for abdominal obesity. The study emphasized that the strongest predictors of developing type 2 diabetes in Hispanic population are impaired insulin sensitivity, low insulin secretion and and glucose effectiveness 1. In addition, the prevalence rates are high in poor families who have poor nutrition and lifestyle behaviors. Since poor families have low access to education, they tend to have low awareness for diabetes hence these results in high diabetes prevalent rates. The results of the study indicated that incidence of diabetes decreased with rising educational level in Hispanic population

Diabetes is a prevalent health disparity among the Latino population. Diabetes is listed as the fifth leading cause of death among the Latino population in the website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in 2009. According to McBean, “the 2001 prevalence among Hispanics was significantly higher than among blacks.” (2317) In other words among the Hispanic or Latino community, there is a higher occurrence of diabetes as compared to other racial/ethnic groups such as Blacks and Native Americans. The prevalence of diabetes among Latinos is attributed to the social determinants of health such as low socioeconomic status and level of education. Further, this becomes an important public health issue when it costs the

Magon M. Saunders, diabetes educator, health coach, and registered licensed dietitian presently serves as a Program Development Consultant in the Program Implementation Branch of the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At CDC, Magon works to provide technical assistance and support to state and national grantees. Magon also provides her expertise to various groups at CDC, including, the Center’s health equity, community health workers, and community clinical linkages workgroups. Nationally, Magon represents the agency as a member of both the American Diabetes Association’s Cultural Competency Workgroup as well as its African American Diabetes Action Council.

Approximately 1 in 6 individuals are Hispanic in the United States, and the population is expected to grow to 1 in 4 by 2035 (CDC, 2015). Given that, Hispanics are the biggest minority group in the US (CDC, 2015). The leading cause of death among the Hispanic population is heart disease and cancer responsible for around 2 out of 5 deaths (CDC, 2015). Hispanics have a 50% greater chance of death resulting from diabetes or liver disease than whites (CDC, 2015). Additionally, there are 3 times as more uninsured Hispanics than whites (CDC, 2015). According to the US average, whites are 15 years older than the Latino population, so prevention will greatly benefit the health of the Latino population (CDC, 2015).

Based on the United States census, it is estimated that by the year 2050 one in three people living in the United Sates will be of Hispanic/Latino origin which include sub groups like Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, Central Americans, and South Americans (Heart Association, 2014). Within those subgroups, the prevalence varied for people of Mexican descent from as high of 18.3 percent to as low as 10.3 percent for people of South American descent, Dominicans and Puerto Rican descent 18.1 percent, Central American descent and Cubans descent 13.4 percent all living in the United States with diabetes type 2. On another commentary being published in the same issue of Diabetes Care, the author wrote, “the differences in diabetes and obesity prevalence among Latinos subgroups are marked when all individuals are combined into a single group” (Heart Association, 2014). Diabetes in Latino Americans has become more prevalence with aging, by the time they reach the age of 70 years, 44.3 percent of Latino men age 70 years old to 74 years old will have develop diabetes. The same study also indicated that the longer Latino Americans live in the United States the more likely they will develop diabetes, that is according to the education and income level of the person. The study also shows

The health issues resulting from health disparities present on the Latinos and Hispanics in America are diverse. In the Hispanic community, diabetes is one of the major causes of death and illness. The language barrier, hard access to health and preventive care and cultural barriers are factors that contribute to this disparity. (Ritter & Hoffman, 2010).

The Hispanic population is constantly growing and we have an estimated 13.7% of Hispanics making up the United States. “The annual percentage of patients with prediabetes in whom overt type 2 diabetes develops is about 5% in the general US population and may reach 15% in the Hispanic American population” (Idrogo & Mazze, 2004, para. 7). This a community health issue because of the percentage of Hispanic individuals that may end up with diabetes. These individuals need to be educated to help the promotion, protection, and maintenance of diabetes in this group. That is why I have created the intervention program for this ethnic group.

The Hispanic community in the largest minority in the USA and the fastest growing, it is also one with a high incidence of preventable diseases such as Diabetes, periodontitis, colorectal cancer and HIV. Obesity and teen age pregnancy are significantly more prevalent in Hispanic/Latino population as well. Rate of vaccination is also below that of the majority of the population. Addressing their health care makes good public health and economic sense.

Of course the best way to address the challenges of noncompliance is to implement an educational protocol to improve adherence. Through this protocol, we can determine the patient 's perceived seriousness and susceptibility. Ensuring an effective educational program requires communication between provider and patient, including assessing patients ' beliefs about future diabetes-related illnesses (Garcia-Perez et al., 2013). The program hinges on the need to carry out educational awareness among the Latino community, and communication will help to design appropriate individualized compliance-enhancing

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease where patient education is imperative and requires education that surpasses the primary care office. According to Cha et al. (2012) basic education and family involvement is an essential component for pre-diabetic and diabetic population to achieve glycemic control. Time management and time constraint are obstacles that are affecting the primary care provider in initiating health promotion topics and disease prevention information (Kowinsky, Greenhouse, Zombek, Rader & Reidy, 2009). Recognizing the time constraint at the EBP change project site for health promotion and patient education a culturally sensitive educational program would be created to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors targeting African Americans with prediabetes.

As well as the higher use of herbal medicines, this will affect the selection of prescription medication (Guerrero & Jones, 2016). In addition, Asian cultures have a lower level of CYP 2D6 a drug metabolism enzyme for antiarrhythmics, antidepressants, and neuroleptics; therefore, they require lower dose of these medications. In contrast, Hispanic cultures are at higher risk for obesity that affects the metabolism and absorption of drugs; and diabetes due to higher levels of insulin resistance and lower level of insulin sensitivity (Guerrero & Jones, 2016). There is also a higher incidence of asthma with Puerto Ricans due to them having a greater response to bronchodilators and Arg16 genotype. In addition, religion plays important role in Hispanic Americans health decisions (Guerrero & Jones, 2016). This is important because practitioner’s lack of knowledge regarding cultural differences contribute health disparities and poor patient outcomes (Hart & Mareno,

Participants will be recruited from three community sites in Los Angels city as it is home to tens of thousands of Chinese Americans in the United States. Recruitment will be conducted in three communities which are highly populated by Chinese American residents, including Monterey Park, Alhambra and San Gabriel in the city. 60269 Chinese Americans lived in these areas in 2010 (Stewart, 2015). Thus, there is an adequate amount of Chinese Americans who can be selected as participants in these communities. Community hospitals offer a variety of educational, support and screening programs to help people with diabetes stay healthy and prevent long-term complications such as heart disease, stroke, or conditions of the eye, foot, and kidneys (Comhs,

Diabetes, hypertension, pernicious anemia, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C are a few of the illnesses that need to be assessed for when dealing with this population. Health care disparities can cause a further problem in early detection and treatment of these diseases. The prevalence of diabetes is growing quickly among people of Hispanic descent (Schneiderman et al., 2014). This disease tends to be more severe and affects this population at younger ages (Giger & Davidhizar, 2008). Nurses need to be aware of this and take measures to detect common diseases as early as possible in this