The United States has various minority groups with the Hispanics being the largest group. The group includes Mexicans, Cubans, Dominicans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans who are either native born or foreign born. The group is divided into those who have lived in the US for a while and newcomers. These factors influence the education level, socioeconomic status, and the occupations taken up by the group and access to health services. Additionally, the group has the lowest healthcare insurance coverage. The CDC notes that many Hispanics speak a language other than English, which makes navigating and access to healthcare information difficult. The combination of the social determinants of health has an impact on the mortality rate and the health of Hispanics.
Hispanics do not have uniformity of the health risk factors as the factors are affected by the origin and stay in the US. Nonetheless, many Hispanics have higher cardiovascular problems than whites do. Some of the diseases they are at risk of include diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol levels. This has been linked to the low exercise and physical activity levels of Hispanic adults. The diseases mainly affect Mexican- Americans. On the other hand, some Hispanics such as Puerto Ricans have a low weight of infants compared to non-Hispanic whites (Vega, Rodriguez & Gruskin, 2009). Similarly, Puerto Ricans have higher mortality rates as a result of infant mortality, HIV/AIDS and asthma. As a group, all Hispanics have higher risks of having diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, unintentional injuries, obesity, cancer, suicide, asthma, HIV/AIDS and liver problems.
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Health promotion among Hispanics is seen as the need for health educational resources and information. The information and resources can then be used by community members to make a change. This is demonstrated in Heer et. al, 2011 experiment that indicated positive results after the interaction of Hispanic children with others learned the importance of exercise. Julia et.al 2016 notes that information is essential and that the internet use and social media has enhanced access to information. They argue that although the Hispanic population is less educated compared to non-Hispanic whites, many of them have access to the internet which can be used to maximize access to information on factors that are affecting the group. Similarly, having a Hispanic healthcare workforce can be seen as one of the health promotion strategies. Diverse racial and ethnic healthcare professionals promote access to healthcare especially among the Hispanic population, as many of those who are not educated may not know English. Similarly, this will reduce the incidences of the language barrier and enhance follow-ups.
Health disparities exist among the Hispanic population. According to CDC, Hispanics are the list insured racial group in the country. Socio-economic and cultural factors, as well as low literacy levels, burden the group. This has an implication on their employability and the kind of jobs they take up. Thus, the group is limited in terms of access to health care due to poverty, which limits healthcare insurance compared to the other groups. Additionally, a large number prefer outpatient clinics and facilities because of the socioeconomic status. This limits the quality of health care of patients and decreases follow up for patients. The group has higher risks of communicable diseases and teen pregnancy compared to non-Hispanic whites in the US (Isasi, Rastogi & Molina, 2016). Similarly, Hispanic children and teens are less likely to engage in exercise and take sweetened drinks more than Non-Hispanic white children. The youths to have a higher risk of getting obesity due to the cultural factors.
Approximate 91% of the Hispanic population lives in places near highways. This has been associated with the respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses prevalent among the group. Similarly, compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics live in places that have industrial pollution and hazardous waste sites that have been linked to the increased rates of diabetes. Although the employment rate of Hispanics is similar to that of Non-Hispanic Whites, many of the Hispanics work in unskilled and high-risk jobs. This is influenced by the education level leading many of the unskilled to work in the agricultural and construction sectors. Notably, many Americans have their insurance premiums remitted by their employers especially in white collar and skilled jobs. This accounts for the few numbers of Hispanics that are insured. Due to the limited access to health care, there are challenges to medication adherence for the various illnesses. For instance, people living with HIV/AIDS and cancer require regular checkups, which may not be followed up with little contact with healthcare providers.
At the primary level, health promotion can make use of awareness creation campaigns. This can involve disseminating information that is translated into Spanish addressing the needs of the specific group. For instance, having posters and social media messages are written in Spanish is a clear and direct way to reach many of the group members. At the secondary level, improving access to health care insurance by providing universal health care will encourage more Hispanics to seek healthcare. Similarly, increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce is likely to influence the access to health care especially for Hispanics who are not fluent in English. Notably, many patients are reported to be satisfied when being treated by the same ethnic physicians. This will also increase screening for cancer and enable people to incorporate exercises into their daily lives.
References
Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (May 2015).Hispanic Health.Retrieved via https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/hispanic-health/index.html
Hudnut-Beumler, J., Po'e, E., & Barkin, S. (2016). The use of social media for health promotion in Hispanic populations: a scoping systematic review. JMIR public health and surveillance, 2(2).
Isasi, C. R., Rastogi, D., & Molina, K. (2016). Health issues in Hispanic/Latino youth. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 4(2), 67.
Vega, W. A., Rodriguez, M. A., & Gruskin, E. (2009). Health disparities in the Latino population. Epidemiologic reviews, 31(1), 99-112.
