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Running Head: CULTURAL ASSESSMENT OF THE HISPANICS LIVING IN THE U.S
Cultural Assessment of the Hispanics living in the United States
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Introduction
Good health and wellbeing of individuals is the key to the growth and development of a
country and an indication of economic stability. However, many factors, like cultural differences,
pose a significant challenge in the delivery of quality healthcare services to citizens. The reason
is that different cultures pose their unique features and characteristics that influence their
healthcare behaviors. Some of the cultures may result in positive healthcare outcomes, while
others may pose challenges to quality healthcare services and access. It is the tasks of healthcare
individuals and institutes to determine these changes that pose gaps in delivering quality
healthcare treatment and develop remedies to overcome them. The United States is an example
of a country that is faced by many healthcare barriers due to cultural diversity. An in-depth
assessment of one of the cultures, Hispanics, to determine their healthcare behaviors, their
impact on healthcare accessibility and delivery, can help in giving an insight of the challenges
they pose and how to overcome to ensure quality healthcare accessibility barriers is minimized or
eliminated.
Hispanic Cultural Assessment
The Hispanics in the United States is comprised of around 16%-18%, over 50 million
people, of the United States population. The Hispanics are comprised of the Mexican, Cuban,
Puerto Rican, Central American, North America, or other Spanish culture or origin. Hispanics
use codeswitching or mixture of Spanish and English (Flores, Lopez, & Krogstad, 2019). In
terms of education, the Hispanics have recorded low graduation level in high school and
colleges, but the number has been improving over the years. According to 2017 research by U.S.
Census Bureau, 69% of Hispanics as compared to 93% of Non-Hispanics graduated from high
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school (OMH). The number gets worse in college because only 16% of Hispanics compared to
36% of non-Hispanics graduated from high school (OMH). Over 80% of Hispanics use social
media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Additionally, Hispanics are not fun of communitybased programs and activities as only 1/3 of them participate. Examples of their primary
traditional practices are, the holy week or La Semana Santa, Right of passage for females or
Quince Anos, day of the dead or Dia de Los Muertos, and mother-child bonding or La
cuarentena (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).
According to the Hispanic family structures, the males are the head of the family while
women are expected to submit to them. However, this has been changing over the years as
females acquire more power and freedom to appoint where women lead some families. Hispanics
are also fond of their family relationships and might leave together and value the extended
family members; value in familyism. The family cohesion, extended family networks, social
support, and unity culture of Hispanics help them overcome adverse health issues. That is why
their expectancy level is higher than the non-Hispanics despite having a low record of income
level. However, their family unity and binds decline as they stay in the United States. Also, the
high value in marriages is declining among Hispanics in the U.S (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 2012). That is why the share of power among women and men has also been
declining as many women opt to live as single mothers. Majority of Hispanics are catholic
believers, and they believe that church and daily prayers are central in developing strong and
healthy families. The Hispanics use alcohol and tobacco because it is associated with the church.
Majority of the Hispanics families are isolated mainly because of fear of deportation. That is why
the majority of Hispanics live in low-income communities with substandard houses where they
rent. The above factors have led to overcrowding, poverty, and low accessibility to government
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resources which is a significant health risk. The overcrowding in the substandard houses is
surrounded by harmful environments which increases their risks of contact diseases (Lasslo et
al., 2017).
Healthcare Behaviors
Traditional practices and religious beliefs influence Hispanics attitudes, behaviours, and
beliefs of health. They have a magical-religious paradigm because they believe that
supreme/supernatural beings determined health and sickness. Another critical factor that
contributes to high uninsured rates and low medical accessibility is due to poverty (Purnell et al.,
2016). Many Hispanics are not able to afford healthcare insurances. Also, they cannot afford
medical treatment costs and thus are forced to seek medical help as a last resort. There are
Hispanic’s healers, Curandero, which know using herbs, conducting massage and rituals, and use
of hot/cold therapies. Therefore, the first choice of treatment that Hispanics seek is from the local
healers and healthcare services is the last resort option (Selchau et al., 2017). That is why the
Hispanics have the highest numbers of uninsured individuals, over 17% of the Hispanic
community compared to non-Hispanics, with only 5% (OMH). Many Hispanic expectant
mothers do not seek prenatal services as compared to other cultures in the United States. Finally,
women prefer women services, especially when seeking delivery services.
Challenges and Barriers to Healthcare
Majority of the characters and health behaviors of the Hispanics pose challenges to
quality healthcare delivery and accessibility. Except for the familyism and social structures that
help the Hispanics in terms of mortality rates, the others have a negative impact. Since their
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language literacy level is low, it creates a barrier in communication with healthcare members
limiting the quality of healthcare delivery (Purnell et al., 2016). Some cultural differences also
cause negative impressions of healthcare systems among Hispanics. Also, due to the high
uninsured rate, they have a big challenge in acquiring quality healthcare services.
The Hispanics beliefs in using alcohol and tobacco as a church practice have led to high
addiction rates to the population. According to research, Hispanics are 13 times likely to use
illegal drugs than any other tribe. Additionally, more than 41.9% of Hispanics take more than
one binge drink each day as compared to 36.8% of the non-Hispanics (Editorial Staff, 2019). The
Hispanics also have high records in obesity, diabetes, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. According to
research conducted in 2017 by the CDC, they found out that 77% of Hispanic women are obese.
The Hispanics HIV/AIDS infections in 2016 were 25% of the total U.S. population.
Additionally, the Hispanics were 1.7 times likely to suffer from diabetes in 2017. There is an
indication that there is a prominent healthcare service delivery and access among Hispanics in
the United States. (OMH).
Plan To Improve Healthcare Outcomes
The most effective intervention plans to overcome these challenges is establishing
effective communication channels, adapting diverse healthcare services, training and education
campaigns targeting Hispanics, and development of specialized services targeting the uninsured
Hispanic. Effective communication can be enhanced through placing professional translators and
use of assistive technology to help in translating or understanding the communication of
Hispanics and clinicians of other cultures. Communication will increase understand and
overcome any cultural conflicts, thus facilitate quality services and positive impression of the
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services. Adapting a diverse healthcare system can be developed through employing people of
Hispanic culture to teach healthcare staff of other cultures as well as administer healthcare
services to the Hispanic cultures (Purnell et al., 2016).
Also, diverse healthcare systems can be developed by offering services focusing on the
cultural beliefs and practices of a person’s culture so as they feel comfortable and increase the
recovery process. Training and education of healthcare staff of ways of understanding and
approaching other cultures can help improve understand and create a positive image of
healthcare system among Hispanics. Creating awareness campaigns like the use of social media
where the majority use them can help reach out for Hispanics and provide health tips that will
facilitate healthcare literacy to make better choices in future. Finally, there is a need for
programs that focus on helping low-income Hispanics acquire healthcare services. For example,
setting up programs of testing and accessing different diseases, offering healthcare advice and
tips, and explaining the importance of healthcare services, among others (Lasslo et al., 2017).
Conclusion
The Hispanic culture analysis shows why cultural differences among communities impact
quality healthcare delivery and accessibility. Hispanics behaviors and beliefs like their social and
familyism structure, magico-religious paradigm, and isolations have positive and negative
influence toward healthcare service delivery and accessibly. Majority of health behaviors of the
Hispanics have led to high rates of addictions, obesity, and diabetes, among others. However,
despite these healthcare gaps, there are many ways that the government intervene to overcome
them. Enhancing communication, accommodating cultural diverse institutes and practices, and
developing programs to help Hispanics in low-income society can help reduce the gap in
CULTURAL ASSESSMENT OF THE HISPANICS LIVING IN THE U.S
healthcare services qualities. It is the responsibility of every healthcare institute to develop
diverse healthcare systems to accommodate the multiple cultures in modern societies. Failing to
address the issue will lead to health disparities, health accessibility inequality, high chronic
disease levels, and high government spending in the healthcare field.
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References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Cultural insights: communicating with
Hispanics/Latinos.
Editorial Staff. (2019). Addiction Rates in the Hispanic Community. Greenhouse. Retrieved
from https://www.greenhousetreatment.com/drug-addiction/hispanic-community-rates/
Flores, A., Lopez, M. H., & Krogstad, J. M. (2019). US Hispanic population reached a new high
in 2018, but growth has slowed. Pew Research Center. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
Lasslo, J. A., Anthony, K. E., Reif, C. E., & Bell, N. H. (2017). Overcoming health disparities:
the need for communication and cultural competency training for healthcare providers
practicing virtually in rural areas. In Health Professionals’ Education in the Age of
Clinical Information Systems, Mobile Computing and Social Networks (pp. 35-62).
Academic Press.
OMH. Hispanic/Latino. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority
Health. Retrieved from https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=64
Purnell, T. S., Calhoun, E. A., Golden, S. H., Halladay, J. R., Krok-Schoen, J. L., Appelhans, B.
M., & Cooper, L. A. (2016). Achieving health equity: closing the gaps in health care
disparities, interventions, and research. Health Affairs, 35(8), 1410-1415.
Selchau, K., Babuca, M., Bower, K., Castro, Y., Coakley, E., Flores, A., … & Samuels, D.
(2017). First Trimester Prenatal Care Initiation among Hispanic Women along the USMexico Border. Maternal and child health journal, 21(1), 11-18.
