The Latino community has in most instances being used as a reference point in healthcare with medical interventions being based on whether one is a Latino or not. In some part, the historical existence of this group significantly determines aspects such as heterogeneity. Besides, other factors such as customs, values, behaviors, attitudes and morals which individuals are accustomed to determine their response towards various medical involvements. There is no doubt that Latinos possess a strong heritage involving religion and family with distinct customs and beliefs that set them apart from the rest of the people. In healthcare, some of the imminent characteristics defining Latinos may depend on public health, topics specific to the Latino community, cultural concepts, intersectionality of public health, resilience of Latino individuals towards health and also some of the innovations being made towards improving Latino healthcare.
Public health is a relatively essential factor in establishing the wellbeing of Latino individuals. This sector is meant confront global issues such as the control of infectious diseases and access to healthcare ( Baig et al., 2016 ). It is widely acclaimed that Latinos have relatively better health compared to the rest of the population. This explains why the group has become popular within the medical fraternity as various tests are continually conducted to determine what may have established the great resilience experienced by this group. It is, however, evident that despite the great response that Latinos have towards healthcare, the linguistic isolation plays a significant role in leading them to appear like they possess similar responses to health like the rest of the population whereas they do not.
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Some of the relative health topics that can be dwelled on in reference to the Latino community involve: Their health status, Access to healthcare, cardiovascular risk factors, cultural barriers to healthcare, cultural reactions of Latino patients and the health status of Latinos. As part of the Hispanic community, Latinos represent a majority of individuals without health insurance. This is occurs since a majority of them are not documented. Besides, compared to the rest of the population, the Latino community is in most cases associated with low literacy levels mostly emanating from language barrier ( Lightfoot et al., 2019 ). As a result, some of them feel it is best not to seek for any form of intervention from others.
It now appears that various overlapping systems of discrimination have emerged in regards to Latino healthcare. This clearly establishes the aspect of intersectionality which clearly references various aspects such as race, ethnicity, sexuality, ability in addition to other issues ( Baig et al., 2016 ). As part of the Hispanic community, the Latinos are a minority group. This makes them less likely to acquire social amenities which other individuals within the community are exposed to. Healthcare is no exception in this case since very few individuals within the Latino community have access to quality healthcare. Many of them live in fear of deportation and besides, their undocumented status makes it hard for them to secure jobs that can enable them gain access to quality healthcare. The critical essence of intersectionality in reference to Latino health is its examination of discrimination which has become rampant in all discourse including how the health of individuals is managed. Most Latinos have complained of being mistreated within various healthcare settings. Investigations conducted on the subject have revealed that Latinos, being part of the minority communities receive lower quality healthcare ( Topmiller, Zhen-Duan, Jacquez & Vaughn, 2017 ). Besides, medical workers in various healthcare facilities have been known to discriminate against this group of individuals. In the end the quality of healthcare they end up receiving is below what other ethnicities are accustomed to.
Various cultural beliefs have, on the other hand, been associated with Latinos and to some extent made it hard for them to become exposed to quality healthcare. An example in this case might be the popular belief regarding birth being viewed as natural by some of the Latinos which leads them not to consider modern healthcare with the required level of seriousness it deserves. The idea that some conditions do not require medical intervention has resulted in many of the mortalities which have been experienced in the Latino community ( Lightfoot et al., 2019 ). Besides, it is evident that Latinos appear as the most underrepresented group within the medical fraternity which speaks volumes about their association with modern healthcare interventions which many still do not believe in. Problems in health disrupt the human developmental process which makes it increasingly important even for the minority communities to gain access to quality healthcare.
Historically, Latinos have generally possessed better responses to health compared to the rest of the population. This can explain why most of these individuals are not accustomed to some of the modern day healthcare interventions. Besides, some of them prefer to stick to their traditional means of medication which they believe are more effective. Currently, the resilience of Latinos is still high despite being a minority population. One can observe this since, Latinos are the largest minority group with people who are above 65 years ( Topmille et al., 2017 ). One can only imagine that this number would be greater if more Latinos were exposed to higher levels of literacy and also possessed medical insurance coverage. Moreover, it is estimated that the population of older Latinos is bound to increase as time progresses, probably due to the expected adoption of modern healthcare interventions by members of this community. In order to realize this, various innovative interventions have been made such as increasing enrolment of the Latino community in educational facilities, and also undertaking community programs encouraging individuals to access medical interventions readily available to them.
To sum it up, it is apparent that there are some characteristics which define the Latino community and also set them aside from the rest of the population when referring to healthcare. Majority of these individuals are accustomed to traditional modes of treatment, and also the discrimination they experience makes it increasingly difficult for them to access medical interventions. Despite this being the case, it is evident that they live longer than the rest of the population which makes them an important reference point for the medical community. More significantly, one can discern that if equality was exercised by treating all individuals similarly, there is no doubt that Latinos will lead better and more fulfilling lives.
References
Baig, A. A., Lopez, F. Y., DeMeester, R. H., Jia, J. L., Peek, M. E., & Vela, M. B. (2016). Addressing barriers to shared decision making among Latino LGBTQ patients and healthcare providers in clinical settings. LGBT health , 3 (5), 335-341.
Lightfoot, A. F., Thatcher, K., Simán, F. M., Eng, E., Merino, Y., Thomas, T. ... & Chapman, M. V. (2019). “What I wish my doctor knew about my life”: Using photovoice with immigrant Latino adolescents to explore barriers to healthcare. Qualitative Social Work , 18 (1), 60-80.
Topmiller, M., Zhen-Duan, J., Jacquez, F. J., & Vaughn, L. M. (2017). Place matters in non-traditional migration areas: Exploring barriers to healthcare for Latino immigrants by region, neighborhood, and community health center. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities , 4 (6), 1214-1223.
