Abstract
Miami, Florida, has a fairly complex health situation. The generalized evaluation of health and illness places the state of Florida roughly in the middle when compared to other states – the trend that persists throughout most of the specific medical conditions, services, and demographics analysis, and remains stable for the last decade. Most of the specific conditions are within the predictable dynamics. However, certain aspects of public health, like the HIV rates, are considerably higher than the acceptable range. Such situation is arguably triggered by the domination of Hispanic or Latino population. While this issue is being properly addressed, it gives way to another possible problem in the field of health care. Stereotyping and unfair treatment are becoming a visible threat to the quality of medical services, and the Hispanic population is known to be among the vulnerable demographic. Thus, appropriate attention should be paid to exclude unfairness and inequity when dealing with vulnerable groups.
Introduction
The community of Miami, Florida has a fairly average health assessment data. Depending on the number of factors to consider, their relevance, and methods of calculation, the state of Florida ranks 15 to 33 among other states, with Miami usually displaying trends consistent with those of the state (Key health data about Florida, 2016). However, the gaps between the stats are considerable, with some of them showing relatively low percentage, like chronic drinking, while other are alarmingly high, like cases of tuberculosis or obesity rates, which have progressed rapidly in the recent years. One of the most dangerous prospects of the health care field, however, is the rise of HIV diagnoses and AIDS cases. In particular, the rates of HIV cases among Hispanic population has risen from 32.7 to 38.4 per 100.000 in four years (America’s health rankings, 2016). As more than a third of Miami population is Hispanic or Latino (), it becomes evident that certain steps should be taken to amend the alarming situation, like raising awareness, providing health education opportunities and affordable medical care. However, cultural barriers are also among the reasons for higher risk of infection. Understanding these differences and taking them into account may prove to be the key point of improving health situation in both the local community and in the region.
Influence of Stereotyping on Health Care
However, such approach is not without its drawbacks. Understanding another culture and making decisions based on this understanding means drawing conclusions beforehand. This may result in stereotyping, which will hamper the progress instead of benefiting it, or lead to unforeseen side effects. Geri-Ann Galanti contrasts stereotyping to generalizing, pointing to their similarities and warning about key differences: “For example, if I meet a Mexican woman named Maria and assume that she has a large family, I am stereotyping her. But if I say to myself, “Mexicans tend to have large families; I wonder if Maria does,” then I am generalizing. A stereotype is an ending point, and no effort is then made to ascertain whether it is appropriate to apply it to the person in question. A generalization, on the other hand, serves as a starting point” (Galanti, 2000, p. 335).
This is a good point to remember, as the public in question – the Hispanic population – are already a subject of several stereotypes, with the most common being poverty, high crime rates, potential drug abuse, low quality of education, and illegal status. The latter may actually contribute to reluctance by the patient to seek medical help, as he would consider the dangers of contacting the official institution. The former, however, may disrupt the medical process. I have had an experience of misattributing the symptoms of the patient to the drug usage because of his appearance resembling a drug addict. Fortunately, I was only a witness in this case, and my assumptions, which both turned out to be wrong, did not hurt the patient in any way. This was, however, an important lesson to reflect upon.
Health Care Inequities for the Vulnerable Groups
Another possible hazard of stereotyping lies within the possibility of unfair treatment as a result of judgmental attitudes. These do not necessarily have to be conscious, and can be a surprise to a medical specialist exhibiting them. Such was the case with me, when, after some time of working in the field, I started to feel I am looking down on patients which I somehow perceive as untrustworthy. The premise was that the patient looks as if he is either a troublemaker or a criminal type, and thus is more likely to get in trouble, which automatically makes his injury his fault. I made sure this did not show in any way or affect my actions, as it is both unprofessional and unethical, but I frankly am not absolutely sure it did not show through my in communication with the patient. Besides, a friend of mine, who is a nurse, shared her concern over having a similar experience. Again, it is hard to estimate the negative impact resulting from it, but I consciously try to minimize it.
Conclusion
The stereotyping can affect the medical services in a variety of ways, of which this paper only highlights a few. However, they may prove crucial regarding the specific demographic of our local community. The examples presented in the paper should be considered as worth looking into in detail and taken into consideration as a potential direction for improvement when working with vulnerable populations.
References
America’s health rankings. (2016). Web.
Galanti, G. (2000). An introduction to cultural differences. Western Journal of Medicine, 172(5), 335-336.
Key health data about Florida. (2016). Web.