The US is populated by numerous ethnic groups, including non-Hispanic whites, Alaskan Natives, Asian and African Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Hispanics. The present essay focuses on the health status of Hispanic Americans. Hispanics make up 18.7 percent of the American population, accounting for slightly more than 62 million people (Jensen et al., 2021). The members of this ethnic minority group are people of Mexican, Cuban, Central American, or Puerto Rican origin (Office of Minority Health, 2019). Only 50 percent of Hispanics have private medical insurance coverage, whereas the percentage of insured non-Hispanic whites is almost 75 (Office of Minority Health, 2019). Nevertheless, life expectancies at birth for Hispanic Americans are two years higher than those of non-Hispanic whites (Office of Minority Health, 2019). The present essay analyzes the health status of Hispanics and describes how to promote the health of this ethnic group.
Two major health problems experienced by the representatives of the Hispanic ethnic group are obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. According to the study of Mendola et al. (2018), “the prevalence of total, diagnosed, and undiagnosed diabetes was higher among Hispanic adults than among non-Hispanic white adults” (p. 1). More precisely, 17 percent of Hispanics, in contrast to 8 percent of whites, are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). As for obesity, Hispanic adults are 1.2 more likely to suffer from excessive weight than white adults (Office of Minority Health, 2018). Another significant health issue common among Hispanics is kidney cancer. Pinheiro et al. (2021) argue that this type of cancer is the most rapidly increasing one for this population. What is more, a Hispanic person diagnosed with kidney cancer is 38 percent more likely to die than a person from other ethical groups (Pinheiro et al., 2021). Finally, Hispanics also have a higher probability of suffering from liver disease and hypertension (Kutzler et al., 2020). The reasons for such a poor health status of the Hispanic ethnic group lie in social factors, access to health services, lifestyle, and diet.
Ethnicity has a strong influence on the health of Hispanic Americans. Firstly, as it has already been mentioned above, half of Hispanics living in the US do not have private medical insurance. Furthermore, while only 5.4 percent of non-Hispanic Whites were uninsured in 2018, the percentage of uninsured Hispanics was almost four times higher (Macias et al., 2020). This fact could be explained by American society’s economic and social disparity. More precisely, an average Hispanic person from 25 to 54 years old earns $828 per week, whereas an average white person of the same age earns $1,084 per week (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). This way, it could be concluded that the cost of insurance is unaffordable for a significant share of Hispanic adults.
Low income not only hinders access to medical insurances but to healthy food as well. It is common knowledge that to stay fit and healthy, it is necessary to eat vegetables, fruits, grains, meat, and fish, and avoid fast food and pre-cooked food. However, the trouble is that the prices for fast food are lower than for fresh food. Still, even if a family has enough money to purchase whole food, traditional dishes of this ethnic group are high in carbs and fat. The regular consumption of such dishes as burritos, refried beans, and quesadillas might lead to excessive weight, high blood sugar levels, and diabetes.
Another reason for poor health status is partially related to the lower rates of education among the Hispanic group. In comparison with whites, 20 percent fewer Hispanics have graduated from a high school, and two times fewer Hispanics have a bachelor’s degree or higher (Office of Minority Health, 2019). From this, it could be inferred that a significant share of Hispanics was not trained in the basics of health. What is more, almost 30 percent of Hispanics living in the US do not speak English fluently (Macias et al., 2020). Therefore, it is troublesome for them to go to a hospital where the personnel is unlikely to speak Spanish fluently. The described facts illustrate that socioeconomic disparity and lack of education could be considered critical drivers of poor health status people belonging to the Hispanic ethnic group.
There is not much information on health promotion activities that Hispanic Americans commonly practice in the academic literature. Nonetheless, considering the fact that the percentage of obese and diabetic Hispanics is immensely high, it is possible to suggest that most health promotion activities are related to the prevention of these two conditions. Another peculiar point on health promotion was noted by Edward et al. (2018). The scholars have discovered that a great role in the conduction of health promotion activities in Hispanic communities is played by faith-based organizations (Edward et al., 2018). For instance, such organizations contribute to the education of Hispanics on health promotion, raise their awareness of the need for health insurance, and assist in enrolling in health insurance (Edward, 2018). At the same time, despite the efforts of faith-based organizations, the level of Hispanics who do not have insurance and do not go to a hospital because of the language barrier remains high.
There are several approaches to health promotion, including medical, educational, and social ones. In the case of the Hispanic ethnic group, educational and social approaches to health promotion seem to be the most effective ones. It is necessary to explain to these people the danger of diabetes, excessive weight and discuss the factor leading to cancer and diseases of kidneys and liver. It is also necessary to tell them where they could consult a specialist if they do not speak English. The primary level of disease prevention is concerned with improving the population’s health. At this level, if people are aware of the causes and dangers of various health conditions, they are expected to be more careful and attentive to themselves. At the secondary level, it is necessary to conduct a social change to enlarge the number of insured Hispanics and improve their access to healthcare services. At the tertiary level, it is essential to teach people what they could do to facilitate their recovery and escape readmission.
A care plan for a representative of the Hispanic ethnic group should be based on values intrinsic to this culture. More precisely, Hispanics value respect for older adults, good manners, friendliness, and kindness. Even though these values are not extraordinary, a nurse who treats such a patient or conducts health promotion activities for the Hispanic community should not forget to explicitly show benevolence, amiability, and respect.
To conclude, the culturally competent health promotion for the Hispanic ethnic group could be supported by the Culture Care Theory developed by Madeleine Leininger. This theory assumes that a nurse should be a specialist in the field and have a profound understanding of dealing with patients with various cultural backgrounds. This theory is universal and could be applied to any existing ethnic group. Considering the case of Hispanic Americans, according to this theory, a nurse should know all the peculiar risk factors that could lead to a specific disease and know how to build effective communication with the patients who belong to the Hispanic community.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021). Hispanic/Latino Americans and type 2 diabetes. Web.
Edward, J., Morris, S., Mataoui, F., Granberry, P., Williams, M. V., & Torres, I. (2018). The impact of health and health insurance literacy on access to care for Hispanic/Latino communities. Public Health Nursing, 35(3), 176-183. Web.
Jensen, E., Jones, N., Rabe, M., Pratt, B., Medina, L., Orozco, K., & Spell, L. (2021). The chance that two people chosen at random are of different race or ethnicity groups has increased since 2010. US Census Bureau. Web.
Kutzler, H. L., Peters, J., O’Sullivan, D. M., Williamson, A., Cheema, F., Ebcioglu, Z.,… & Serrano, O. K. (2020). Disparities in end-organ care for Hispanic patients with kidney and liver disease: Implications for access to transplantation. Current Surgery Reports, 8(3), 1-10. Web.
Macias, R., Marcelin, J. R., Zuniga-Blanco, B., Marquez, C., Mathew, T., & Piggott, D. A. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic: disparate health impact on the Hispanic/Latinx population in the United States. The Journal of infectious diseases, 222(10), 1592-1595. Web.
Mendola, N. D., Chen, T. C., Gu, Q., Eberhardt, M. S., & Saydah, S. (2018). Prevalence of total, diagnosed, and undiagnosed diabetes among adults: United States, 2013-2016. US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.
Office of Minority Health (2018). Obesity and Hispanic Americans. Web.
Office of Minority Health (2019). Profile: Hispanic/Latino Americans. Web.
Pinheiro, P. S., Medina, H. N., Callahan, K. E., Koru-Sengul, T., Sharma, J., Kobetz, E. N., & Penedo, F. J. (2021). Kidney cancer mortality disparities among Hispanics in the US. Cancer Epidemiology, 72, 1-7. Web.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021). Table 3. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by age, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex, third quarter 2021 averages, not seasonally adjusted. Web.