By 2011, nearly one person out of every six living in the United States will be of Hispanic/Latino origin (Selig Center Multicultural Economy Report, 2006).
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.
Reasons for this discrepancies are many and varied, so different and varied approaches will be needed.
In the Hispanic/Latino culture health care is most commonly sought after when symptoms appear, and in may cases only when those symptoms cause the individual’s incapacitation. Working through discomfort is considered the norm, dwelling on discomfort or mild pain is seen as weakness and seeking medical attention when not ill, such as preventive care, is almost unheard of, unless it is required by one’s employer. Culturally engaging in premarital sex is frowned upon for girls, though not so much for males, abstinence may be the only birth control ever discussed at home, for fear of implying consent. This significantly increments the danger of teen age pregnancy, abortion is rejected, mostly for moral and religious reasons, thus the high rate of teen age birth.
You mention one of the most important issues affecting the United States health care system and It is one related to racial groups. I believe that Hispanic is one of the racial group suffering from an inadequate access to health care and preventive care. Latinos are exposed to numerous lifestyle features that affect negatively their health behaviors, besides they are subject to occupational hazards and unfavorable residential-environmental conditions throughout their life . Definitely, Latino population health is not static and is constantly influenced by demography, diseases , and social issues. Demographically the Latino population is increasing due to immigration and fertility. According
According to this perception of “Latino culture,” it can be assumed that teen pregnancy was acceptable and was something that all Latina girls aimed for. Minerva, one of the girls interviewed, described this when she stated, “... they talk down to us, like, ‘Okay, we know that in the Hispanic culture it's okay for girls to get pregnant young and become mothers, but not in American culture, okay?’” (Garcia, 2012: 63). This connection to “Latino culture” also emphasized the gender inequality between men and women. Embedded into the courses was a justification of machismo, a “..strong and exaggerated sense of masculinity specific to Latinos”(Garcia, 2012: 63). Rather than explain the prevention of pregnancy as a group effort, Miriam reported that her sex education teacher, “...started talking about Latino culture and saying that because of machismo, guys were always gonna try to control us and tell us how many babies to have, and that they were too macho to wear condoms” (Garcia, 2012: 63). The idea portrayed when blaming “Latino culture” is that the sexuality of young Latina women is a problem that needs to be fixed but the sexuality of Latino men is acceptable. The efforts of the teachers, as reported by the girls, focused on changing how women pursued their sexuality. However, this perception of sexuality in Latina girls is false, and was grounded on the negative stereotypes
For many Latinos, they like a more to feel a more personal, welcoming doctor-patient relationship, they want to feel that the provider truly concerned for them as a whole. Since we all know how health care professionals are often rushing can makes the American healthcare system,look untrustworthy, in which doctors often rush visits and lack time to establish relationships with patients. Latino apprehension about healthcare goes deeper than issues of access. It also partially derives from a long history of preferring non-Western medicine, a cultural uneasiness with the American style of healthcare, and a tradition of privacy and individual pride that makes many Latinos believe we have no need to ask for help, and they don’t believe in being
The primary focus of the study by Britigan et al (2009), entitled A Qualitative Study Examining Latino Functional Health Literacy Levels and Sources of Health Information, is designed to measure the degree to which selected Latino populations have access to and utilize available health information resources.
Immigration is not on their top list. Immigration is actually the least of their problems. 50% of their most common problems is health care. All of these studies were made to be shared and inform patients to look out for these kinds of behaviors. It’s hard for hispanics to get high quality services in the health care providing services. Interactions that the health care providers give to the patients aren’t satisfying. “ Although some associations between implicit bias and health care outcomes were non significant, results also showed that implicit bias was significantly related to patient-provider interactions, treatment decisions, treatment adherence, and patient health outcomes.” There are significant amount of health care providers and cannot commit to doing such a thing and treating their patients
Mexican American women for over 20 years have had the highest rate of teen pregnancy compared to Anglo women. Teenage birth rates have decreased as a whole, but even with teenage births decreasing Mexican American women are still at the top, having the highest teen birth rates with 46.3 births for every 1,000 teens that are females. There are several reasons for this startling fact; this paper is going to illustrate some of the misconceptions when dealing with Latina sexuality and reproduction and also the negative results that came from it. To illustrate this alarming issue, some misconceptions about Mexican American sexuality and reproduction will be shared. Such as, most Mexican American teenage or adolescent mothers may lack knowledge.
Public health workers from all spectrums can assist in proposed legislation and policies favoring the Latino community as well as increasing efforts for lifestyle changes leading to r4ducing risk factor such as obesity, hypertension and dietary choices. Public health programs will also look to create more strategies and interventions that promote, prolong and encourage a healthier lifestyle while living on a strained budget. In essence, acculturation and cultural lifestyle contributes to higher rates of diabetes among the Latino community.
According to the CDC, Hispanic Americans have 23% higher obesity rates than non Hispanic whites. This is a problem because obesity can lead to greater problem like: high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and cancer. This problem is the result of the health disparities the Hispanic American population faces. One in four Hispanic Americans
“The national Hispanic teenage pregnancy rate is twice that of non-Hispanic whites, and in California, Hispanic adolescents are four times more likely than whites to become parents”. (guttmacher.org, 2004) . This rapid growth in Hispanic population and high rate of teen pregnancies is putting pressure on the educational and health care systems to address the needs of Hispanics. Many young Latina/Hispanic girls face discrimination, poverty, and limited access to healthcare and most importantly cultural challenges, which can place them at a high risk for unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Thus there is a clear need for teenage pregnancy
Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group and there are estimated to be about 54 million living in the United States (Office of Minority Health & Health Equity, YEAR). The Hispanics are a minority group that struggle every day to survive, to provide for their families, to stay healthy and to live quality lives. This paper will discuss the Hispanics current health status, how health promotion is defined by the Hispanics and what health disparities exist for the Hispanics. Lastly, this paper will discuss the three levels of health prevention and their effectiveness given the unique
in Latino elders will increase by 836% by 2060. For Latino families these challenges add
Equality in everything, including health issues, has to be the main feature of the modern world. National health programs of the US operate to ensure adequate and timely treatment of all citizens. Nevertheless, health indicators of some racial and ethnic groups are significantly worse than of the white Americans. It applies to the Hispanic Americans and significantly affects their lives. The current health status of this minority is far from satisfactory and needs improvements through existing programs and the development of new approaches to address
Undocumented immigrants in the United States are denied and limited to health care access due to their legal status. However, recent arrived immigrants are healthier than the general U.S. population. According to the National Longitudinal Mortality Study (1979-1989), “Singh and Siahpush (2001) found that all-cause mortality was significantly lower among immigrants than among the U.S. born (18% lower for men and 13% lower for women), after adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, marital status, urban/rural residence, education, occupation, and family income (Acevedo-Garcia & Bates, 2008). While policy and Health Care Acts are denying and limiting health insurance to undocumented immigrants and wanting them out of the country, that may not be an appropriate strategy to promote health insurance in Latino communities since recent arriving immigrants are healthier than the general U.S. population. Some studies suggest that, “Latino and immigrants have more positive health behaviors, particularly related to substance abuse, than their non-Latino and U.S. born counterparts. For example, compared to non-Latino whites, Latinos are less likely to consume cigarettes or alcohol, independent of SES (Abraido-Lanza, Chao, & Florez, 2005)(Acevedo-Garcia & Bates, 2008). However, after several years of acculturating into the majority culture, Latinos/as are becoming accustomed to unhealthy habits that American citizens are familiar with. Researchers have taken in consideration the Latino Health
Latinos and Hispanics have a long history here in the United States of America. The term “Hispanic” is most often used by the government, which is what will be used through the rest of this document. Hispanics are the fastest growing group in the United States and their numbers will continue to increase as years go by. Mexicans are the largest subgroup of Hispanics making up 66% of the population while the other 34% includes Central and South Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other Hispanic origins. California, Texas, and Florida have the highest populations of Hispanics. In regards to health insurance, Hispanics have the highest rates of uninsured in the United States.
For about the last 20 years Mexican American females have had the highest rates of adolescent teenage childbearing. Although the teenage birthrates have decreased as a whole, Mexican American women are still at the top, having the highest teen birth rates (46.3 births per 1,000 teen females). The Mexican American adolescent mothers have a lot in common when it comes to their reasons, knowledge, risks and prevention of pregnancy. However, there are some misconceptions when dealing with Chicana sexuality and reproduction.