Introduction
There is no doubt that the stable health situation of the population is among the factors that secure the well-being of the people. According to the key values of our society, all the people whose work is helpful for the country should be treated equally and provided with all the necessary things to maintain an appropriate health level as long as possible. Nevertheless, such a situation remains a dream; having taken a look at the most recent statistical data on the health level of different social and ethnic groups, everyone can notice certain harmful tendencies and inequality. At present, it would be a lie to say that people belonging to minority groups are equal to ones constituting the majority of the population of the United States when it comes to health status. Speaking about Hispanics from the United States, it is necessary to assume that their health status is not the same as one of the other people, and there are certain health disparities that they face.
Hispanic Population and the Level of Health
People belonging to racial and ethnic minorities present one of the groups that are economically and socially disadvantaged. Speaking about the Hispanic population living in the United States, it is important to say that the health status of the group differs from the national average one. Even though there is more than sixteen percent of the Hispanic population in the United States, the health status of this minority group does not belong to the number of the most discussed issues within the public health system. Nowadays, some tendencies may hurt the quality of life and the health level of the Hispanic population. Because of poverty, they are often unable to afford a substantial prevention medical examination when something is wrong; as a result, they miss an opportunity to prevent serious health issues including feral diseases.
At the same time, Hispanics show better results when it comes to the use of illegal drugs by young people; on average, the percent of drug addicts among Hispanics is lower than that among other groups of population (“Racial and ethnic minority populations”, 2016, para. 32). Despite the discussed tendency that can be called quite positive for this group of the population, there is plenty of factors that make the health situation of Hispanics worse. For instance, more than a quarter of Hispanic adolescents often use alcohol and this situation seems to be quite unpromising. There are also numerous issues connected to insurance; about a quarter of the Hispanic population has no health insurance coverage at all. It can be concluded that the health status of the Hispanic population is different from the average in the country; at the same time, there are minority groups whose experiences are even worse.
Health Disparities that Hispanic Population Faces
Speaking about health disparities, we usually mean a range of factors that produce inequality when it comes to distributing the resources to provide people with appropriate medical assistance and necessary medicinal drugs. Most health disparities exist due to certain imperfections in the healthcare system but some situations can be improved if the members of minority groups join their forces. Despite all the consequences of health disparities for socially disadvantaged groups, these problems are preventable. Numerous reasons give rise to health disparities; for instance, low-income level, unequal access to education, and different attitudes towards health issues of the people who constitute the majority and the disadvantaged groups of the population (“Health disparities”, 2015, para.1). As for health disparities that exist for the Hispanic population, they are likely to be connected to their average level of prosperity. It is often reported that many people living on the breadline are Hispanics, and this factor immediately leads to health disparities. Due to that, many of them lack access to important medical procedures and pharmaceutical drugs.
To continue, health promotion is often defined by the minority group. There are many cases when members of certain group sink into despair and start believing that the situation cannot be improved. There is a way to estrange health disparities but it requires both help from the government and high motivation of the minority group.
What Models Can be Implemented to Promote Health?
It is wrong to say that low health levels of minority groups are a no-win situation.
Instead, there are a few models proposed by REACH that are an organization struggling for equal rights in the field of healthcare. Besides other solutions developed by the organization, it proposes to provide poor members of minority groups with access to affordable healthy food to improve their health (“Racial and ethnic approaches to community health”, 2016, para. 12). I believe that this approach would also be useful for Hispanics as many of them have to struggle to support their families. There are three levels of health promotion prevention; this very measure is likely to be connected to the second level that involves specific activities aimed at preventing the dangerous situation.
References
Health disparities. (2015). Web.
Racial and ethnic minority populations. (2016). Web.
Racial and ethnic approaches to community health. (2016). Web.