Objectives
Latinos are one of the group among Americas rich culture who have ties with Latin America. These people have a rich culture when it comes to how they conduct their day-to-day life. In regard to childbirth and perinatal care, they have a unique way of ensuring pregnant women and children are taken care of. No cultural group that goes without a certain way of discharging duties and carrying their individual roles. Latinos are known for their rich cultural history both in health beliefs and practices and understanding them will help in handling their cases better. Family patterns, communication styles, responses to pain, nutrition patterns death and dying are all part of their care routines one needs to understand. Spirituality, prayers as well as meditation patterns are also very important part of their cultural norms. Therefore, it is very important to relate with their culture so as to afford them the best care.
Health Beliefs and Practices
For Latinos, overfamiliarity is not something they like during early stages of interaction in health care practices. Tradition means of treatment such as Folk treatment are commonly applied to care for the ill and pregnant in the community. Folk illnesses are considered to be associated with certain group members and require special healing. As Gast et al. (2017) explains, folk healing and herbal remedies are common with the Latinos. They believe that conditions such as high cravings in women must be satisfied to ensure the baby is health and has no defects. Primary care physicians are commonly used as a primary source of health care. However, most Latinos might prefer use of home remedies by consulting a folk healer. Finally, all the exercise of care giving must present a dignified treatment for it to be successful.
Family Patterns
For Latinos, family ties are very important and its considerations comes first before any individual or community needs. Nuclear families are the most common and basic social units even though extended families can also surface. When providing care, family is the most important component for social and emotional support during illness or pregnancy period. For Latinos health decisions are made at a family level and the oldest man in the family is most likely to make decisions on behalf of the other members. Men are also expected to take care of the family need by providing for and being in charge of all family decisions.
Communication Style
Communication is a crucial part of care for Latinos and is the most basic requirement for every care giver. There is a special way on how they expect to be treated and timely attention could pray a very vital role on how a patient responds to your care. They believe that how you build rapport with exchange of pleasantries is crucial so as to build a room for the patient to open up communication. If there is no warmness in the way you approach them it will prove difficult to gather medical history and conduct any physical examinations. Moreover, for older people they love being addressed by their last name for them to respond well. Being addressed by the last name gives them a sense of pride as to them family ties are very crucial in how they respond to the caregiver.
Space Orientation and Time Orientation
Latinos believe in personal space and respect as very valuable aspect of care. Respect is at the center stage of everything which creates close space orientation. A position of power created by either age, gender and social position as well as economic status will most certainly create space orientation. The closeness depends on intimacy levels and familiarity of the individuals. Most probably they will treat caregivers with respect since they consider health care givers as authority figures. In terms of time orientations, Latinos believe in the present and do not put so much emphasis on how the past affects the present or how it shape the future happenings. They have a different perspective of fate such that nothing can change fate and humans should take every day as it comes.
Nutritional Patterns
Many Latinos have been associated with poor feeding and nutrition which has led to high obesity cases. As Overcash and Reicks (2021) state, it is a critical health priority to improve diet quality among the Latinos. Normally, when giving care to the sick or pregnant women they have special dietary and meals. For instance, chicken and soup are the most common meal for every Latino who is ill or for pregnant women. The idea behind this is that the broth provides hydrating fluids for the sick to avoid dehydration and the steam is also believed to open nasal passages for easier breathing. Those are some of the nutritional patterns for the sick and pregnant women that the Latinos adhere to.
Pain Responses
Latinos are always said to be very sensitive to pain and emotional at the face of chronic pain. However, it is less likely for them to admit being in pain or report any chronic pain as compared to people of other culture. According to Hollingshead et al. (2016) the differences on how different people process pain is purely based on pain coping strategies as well as cultural factors. Latino’s culture regards pain adherence very highly hence the reason why it is less likely for them to report any chronic cases. Their faith in fate and things happening at the rightful moments means that they might disregard chronic pain until it becomes severe.
Childbirth
For the Latinos pregnancy is a natural occurrence and should be treated with ultimate care. When it comes to pregnancy and childbirth both the community and extended family pray a vital role on health practices. From food requirements for pregnant women, spirituality as well as child rearing upon birth are very important aspects. During prenatal visits it is crucial for the pregnant woman to be accompanied by their husband as well as another female member of the family such as the mother or a sister. The role of bringing up a child is placed entirely on women in most of Latinos family with elder siblings being part of the home care program. Another aspect of childbirth and care most common to note for Latinos is that they are warm and overly protective of their children.
Perinatal Care
For Latinos, they might seek perinatal care late in pregnancy or not at all until delivery is done. During pregnancy family plays a crucial role in care giving and mostly traditional methods are applied. Order women with maternal experiences are consulted and incase of complication they may visit hospitals for specialized perinatal care. Women family members are an important factor during and after pregnancy since hey can easily relate and understand the experience which further explains why they accompany pregnant women during perinatal care visits.
Death and Dying
During dying and time of death the whole family is responsible for taking care of the family member at that stage of life. However, pregnant women are given an exemption since they are also at a stage where they require care of their own. Latinos do not believe in organ donations when a member is dying or carrying out of autopsies as is the belief of many Catholics among the community. Moreover, after the death of a family member public announcement and expressing of grief is a common practice among women. This signifies respect and plays vital role I the final sendoff of the family member.
Spirituality, Religion, and Faith
Most Latinos are roman catholic believers, a faith that they practice deeply and believe in so much. Religion and faith are at the center of every care given to pregnant or sick people and prayers play a vital role in the aspect of health and wellness. According Gast et al. (2017) to religion among Latinos is crucial in promoting health care behaviors. There is a Saint for every disease on whom they intercede with such as St. Joseph for the dying members of the community or St Anne for infertility cases. The deep-rooted faith that the Latinos exhibit is important for their care practices and the care givers as well. Moreover, there is also a practice of Magico-religious which involves placement of candles and together with the pictures of saints. This implies their strong faith in Saints and how the pray special role in wellness of the community.
Prayer and Meditation
Faith in spiritual healing is common among many Latinos thus the reason why they intercede on behalf of the sick. They believe that the saints are responsible for healing of their loved ones. Praying to the saints for specific illnesses and conditions is a major aspect of taking care of the sick. For the Latinos both meditation and prayers are essential for spiritual healing.
Knowledge Gained
It was not of my knowledge that warm reception and greetings play a vital role in how the Latinos open up to medical personnel. For instance, dealing with the elderly who expected to be addressed with their last name is something that surprised me. Another knowledge gained is the fact that the family is fully involved in caring for the pregnant women and sick in the community. Family role is very valuable in care giving as well as warm and timely communication.
Changes to Care Patterns
The knowledge gained from this study will help me understand more how the Latinos can withhold information. Being warm and exchanging pleasantries can go a long way in determining how they open up. As Hardeman et al. (2017) state, creating personal relationship with patients is a desirable trait. Moreover, it is understood that their trait of adhering to pain can be a hindrance towards proper diagnosis and thus treatment. The best way to make them open up is by being warm and with timely attention that you afford them.
Changes to Care Patterns
Another way of changing the way I approach this group is by appreciating the role family members play. Like the case where pregnant women are accompanied by their husband is a crucial behavior for quality care. Latinos are respectful towards the people who they regard as authority figure. As a care giver it is very important to earn your patients respect so as to get proper communication and accurate diagnosis. Another change to care is try to understand their traditional means of healing and taking care of the sick. Understanding factors such as how they handle cravings in pregnant women is crucial so a offer appropriate advise.
References
Gast, J., Peak, T., & Hunt, A. (2017). Latino health behavior: An exploratory analysis of health risk and health protective factors in a community sample. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 155982761771661. Web.
Hardeman, R. R., Karbeah, J., & Kozhimannil, K. B. (2019). Applying a critical race lens to relationship‐centered care in pregnancy and childbirth: An antidote to structural racism. Birth. Web.
Hollingshead, N. A., Ashburn-Nardo, L., Stewart, J. C., & Hirsh, A. T. (2016). The pain experience of Hispanic Americans: A critical literature review and conceptual model. The Journal of Pain, 17(5), 513–528. Web.
Overcash, F., & Reicks, M. (2021). Diet quality and eating practices among Hispanic/Latino men and women: NHANES 2011–2016. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3), 1302. Web.