Health and Illness of Hispanic Population
Student’s Name
Institution of Learning
Abstract
Health and illnesses in the American Hispanic community remains an issue of enormous concern. With their population of over 52 million people, proper plans are necessary for their health care. Their health and well-being are affected by stereotypes and inequalities. Serotypes influence their reception to health care services and the way health care providers conduct health care services. Due to inequalities, patients are sometimes left out of critical programs. Statistics show that Hispanics have the longest life expectancy with proper health care. Most of them die of preventable illnesses such as heart diseases, cancer, accidents, and obesity. Socio economic factors have a strong bearing on their health options. However, proper interventions from the government can turn their fortunes.
Health and Illness of Hispanic Population
Introduction
Health and illnesses in the American Hispanic community remains an issue of enormous concern despite the government’s effort to improve health care outcomes for all Americans. The Hispanic population in America is now over 52 million people, and it is now the largest minority group in the country. The high annual rate of Hispanic immigrating into America is the main contributor to the increase in their population. California hosts most of the Hispanic population, about 13.2 million Hispanics. The rest of the people are distributed across the country with Texas and Florida being host to the second and third largest Hispanic population respectively. The immigrant Hispanic population in America is enormous and it suffers greatly. According to Jacobsen (2014), many migrants face serious risk during their journeys and as they settle in their new places of residence. Working and living in the Hispanic community has exposed me to many issues concerning health and illnesses of this community. Among the issues, I noticed that negative stereotyping and discrimination affect health care services provided to these vulnerable populations. Stereotyping and discriminating have a large part to play for the alarming statistics on the health status of the Hispanic community.
Statistics
In 2012, the Hispanic population recorded over 9007, 677 live births. Only 7% of the births are low weight births. Infant mortality stands at 5.29 per 1000 live births. 10% of the population in all ages report poor or fair health. Insurance coverage for Hispanic less than 65 year of age is 69.6%. The death rate per 100,000 people stands at 286.2 (CDC, n.d.). The leading causes of death among the Hispanics are cancer, heart disease, and accidents (or unintentional injuries). Cigarette smoking is the most common health risk factor in this community with 17.2% and 9.1% of men and women respectively above the age of 18 years smoking cigarettes (CDC, n.d.). In 2010, heart disease accounted for 595444 deaths, 24.1% of all deaths (192.9 per 100,000 people), and malignant neoplasms accounted for 173.5 deaths (0.6% of the total deaths) (“Health care”, n.d.). Latinos women have shown the highest rates of cervical cancer that was a 1.6 times more often than of non-Hispanic white women. The high prevalence of cancer in these women is mostly associated with the lack of access and knowledge of preventative care. (Gillette, H., 2012). With good health, Hispanics have a relative high life expectancy of 83.8 years and 78.8 years for women and men respectively (“Health care”, n.d.).
Stereotypes
When working and staying in this community, I notice that stereotypes had enormous influence on health care services of the Hispanics. Although I have seen the display of stereotypes on various occasions, one particular occasion stood out dominantly. Stereotypes towards Latinos culture and their way of life influence their decision to seek medical help or treatment from alcoholism and substance abuse. The stereotypes that hinder Hispanic youths from seeking medical help from alcoholism include stereotypes concerning their religion and spirituality, socioeconomic factors, and gender roles (Blackston, 2007). The factors influence the attitude of alcoholic behavior rehabilitation toward the Hispanics, and, on the other hand, the factors make the community develop suspicions towards health care providers and institutions. Historic discrimination and racism has always stigmatized youth Hispanics with behavioral problems that discourage these alcoholic youths from seeking help, especially if the doctors involved are white. Here are high rates of unemployment and poverty among Hispanics. The Hispanics may avoid seeking help from a white health care provider to avoid te stigma of mental challenge and alcoholism, and appear to be self-reliant to the outsiders. Unfortunately, health care providers (behavioral therapist) focus on the patient’s environment and especially on culture and socioeconomic dynamics, which makes the patient feel that his/her way of life is under attack.
Inequality
Health care inequalities are also rife within the Hispanic community. Inequalities negatively affect health care services the Hispanic patients receive. Over 30-35% Hispanics do not have health care cover (Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Insured, 2013). This inequality negatively influences health care services for a Hispanic individual. While working and living with the Hispanics, I encountered a case of an elderly immigrant woman who would not get health care services for her arthritis, because she did not have health care cover. In addition to the luck of the health care cover, the woman had no money and, therefore, she would not afford out all her health care needs. In addition to arthritis, this lady suffered from a myriad of illnesses and relied on health care workshops and donation from friends, since her family was poor. Absolutely no one had health care cover in her household. According to her family members, if they had health care cover or money to pay for her health care early enough, her condition would have been arrested before it became worse.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Hispanic health and well-being is affected by many factors beyond their control. Statistics indicate high mortality rate among grown-ups as well as infants. Over 10% of the population claim to be in poor health, and most of them die from preventable causes such as heart diseases, cancer and accidents. A large number of Hispanics compared to the other races do not have health care insurance cover. Such patients are expected to take care of their health through out of pocket payments, yet they are so poor. Stereotypes and inequality are to blame for the failure of the Hispanics to get proper health care. To overcome the socially determined inequity in health care, people need full political commitment, unified and integrated action, strong system approach, effective health systems with high characteristics, and functioning of the fundamental questions of consistency between different strategies of the state.
References
Blackston, B. (2007, November 2). Latino Stereotypes Affect Access to Alcohol Treatment. http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/drugs/latino-stereotypes-affect
CDC. (n.d.). Health of Hispanic or Latino Population. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hispanic_health.htm”http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hispanic_health.htm
Health care. (n.d.). Latino Demographic Caucus. Retrieved from http://sisepuedeldc.org/health-care
Jacobsen K.H. (2014). Health of Vulnerable Populations. In Introduction to Global Health, 2nd edition. Burlington, MA : Jones & Bartlett Learning
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Insured. (2013). Health Coverage for the Hispanic Population Today and Under the Affordable Care Act. Washington DC: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Insured
