Paper Example on Health Promotion Among Diverse Populations

Introduction

Hispanic is one of the minority groups in the United States. The Hispanics are people from Spanish speaking nations who migrate to the United States to search for a better life than that in their countries of origin. The 2010 U.S census report shows that 17 percent of the total population comprises of the Hispanic community (Gallo et al., 2015). This paper will establish a comparison and contrast of the health status of the Hispanics to the national average, identify the health disparities within the minority group, and describe the various approaches of health promotion that would be suitable based on the unique needs of the group.

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The Current Health Status of The Hispanics

Ideally, there is the need for a proper assessment of the rates of mortality and morbidity, as well as the health of the Hispanics to enhance health promotion and wellbeing of this population. The group is composed of people from various nations such as Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Columbia, Salvador, and the Dominican Republic. In the U.S, diabetes is one of the leading causes of deaths among different groups (Cristancho, Peters, & Garces, 2014). Type 1 diabetes arises due to absolute insulin deficiency while type 2 diabetes occurs when the level of secretion of insulin increases or reduces hence leading to insulin resistance. The Hispanics have increased cases of abnormal glucose metabolism and higher rates of Type 2 diabetes than the non-Hispanic whites (Gallo et al., 2015). 12.1 percent of Hispanics have Type 2 diabetes as compared to 7.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites who have been diagnosed with the same condition (Schneiderman et al., 2014). However, across all the racial groups, cancer causes a larger number of deaths as compared to diabetes. Cancer accounts for 22 percent of all the deaths of Hispanics (Gallo et al., 2015). Other causes of death of the Hispanics are hypertension, pneumonia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cirrhosis, kidney disease, and chronic liver disease (Hummer & Hayward, 2015).

How the Hispanics Define Health Promotion

The healthcare system in the United States varies across different groups. Most of the Hispanics who come to the U.S tend to be economical and shy away from expensive treatments and medication. As such, they opt for cheap prescriptions to serve as an alternative medication for their conditions. Concisely, the Hispanic population defines health promotion as the dissemination of educational materials to help improve access to preventative care (Gallo et al., 2015). Since diabetes affects a huge percentage of the Hispanics, the educational material used would be specific to the causes hence raising awareness. The educational material will guide the Hispanics on how they can lose weight and engage in exercise, which reduces the risk of diabetes (Schneiderman et al., 2014).

The primary goal of the Hispanics in health promotion is to reduce the risk of health complications like diabetes by ensuring that they promote proper dietary intakes and exercise among the youth and adults. However, their secondary goal is to address the existing impact of the health conditions and treat them to help do away with adverse consequences that would arise. In tertiary management, the Hispanic medical practitioners have to soften the effect of the diseases within the community through early recognition of their existence. The health care providers tend to provide culturally competent healthcare to the clients (Hummer & Hayward, 2015).

Health Disparities That Exist for The Hispanics

Various disparities have a substantial impact on the overall health of the Hispanics. One of these is an economic disparity. The demographic data of Hispanics shows that this minority group has 14.5 percent poverty rate (Cristancho et al., 2014). Due to poor economic status, it is estimated that 29 percent of the Hispanics lack health insurance thereby deterring them from seeking out medical care when required (Schneiderman et al., 2014). The financial hardship places a number of the Hispanic families in a dilemma as they have to weigh the costs for health care against the costs of basic needs. As such, some people delay medical visits to pay rent first and buy groceries. Delayed medical visits lead to lack of preventative interventions thereby raising diabetes rates among the Hispanic population (Gallo et al., 2015).

Additionally, language is a disparity that deters the Hispanics from seeking adequate medical care. The Hispanics who are not able to speak English always feel discouraged from seeking any medical assistance as they do not feel free in the offices of care practitioners. They also feel discriminated against due to the difference in accent. Differences in language make the Hispanics not to take part in preventative care. The inability to speak or even understand English easily makes most of the individuals in programs on health education. Lack of proper formal education makes it difficult to comprehend the English language used by the doctor and other practitioners (Cristancho et al., 2014).

Approaches Using the Three Levels of Health Promotion Prevention

The Hispanic population should have adequate access to healthcare. As such, there would be the need to provide educational programs at the primary level and ensure efficient delivery of information in the secondary and tertiary levels of prevention. All the three levels are vital and effective (Schneiderman et al., 2014). Primary prevention intervention aims at reducing the vulnerability of individuals or populations to diseases or particular conditions. At this level of prevention, the individuals are encouraged to be aware of the means to improve health. They also understand the actions they need to take at the primary level of disease prevention. Within the Hispanic community, people rely on support from the families and support groups and utilize resources available in the community (Hummer & Hayward, 2015). Even though there are clinics in the U.S that offer services at low costs and have employees who speak Spanish, most Hispanics are not aware of these clinics. As such, the healthcare workers should inform the individuals within the Hispanic population about the availability of affordable services and resources. The individuals and families have to be active participants in primary prevention to ensure that their actions are economically feasible and relevant to the social aspect. Other activities involved in this level of prevention are health screenings and immunization against diseases (Schneiderman et al., 2014).

Conversely, secondary prevention entails screening activities, as well as treatment of a disease in the early stages to limit disability and avert advanced consequences. The screening activities would be required for the Hispanics since most of them make use of the prevention services provided in separate clinics for different conditions. The separate clinics lead to fragmentation of services, which interferes with efficient and adequate health care delivery to the Hispanics (Cristancho et al., 2014). In situations where a disability or condition is permanent and cannot be reversed, tertiary prevention would be appropriate. Since the Hispanics have low rates of health insurance, physician/patient relationship is vital (Schneiderman et al., 2014). When the physicians get in touch with the patients among the Hispanic population, the care providers help in the management of chronic conditions. They also rehabilitate the affected Hispanics to retain optimal functioning level (Gallo et al., 2015).

Conclusion

The Hispanics face barriers to the acquisition of high quality and affordable health care due to economic constraints, language, and cultural differences. The barriers need to be addressed to ensure efficiency in care provision. Due to a large number of Hispanic patients who suffer from chronic conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the activities of primary, secondary and tertiary levels of prevention should be considered to enhance health promotion.

References

Cristancho, S., Peters, K., & Garces, M. (2014). Health information preferences among Hispanic/Latino immigrants in the US rural Midwest. Global health promotion, 21(1), 40-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757975913510727

Gallo, L. C., Fortmann, A. L., McCurley, J. L., Isasi, C. R., Penedo, F. J., Daviglus, M. L., ... & Schneiderman, N. (2015). Associations of structural and functional social support with diabetes prevalence in US Hispanics/Latinos: Results from the HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study. Journal of behavioral medicine, 38(1), 160-170. doi: 10.1007/s10865-014-9588-z

Hummer, R. A., & Hayward, M. D. (2015). Hispanic older adult health & longevity in the United States: Current patterns & concerns for the future. Daedalus, 144(2), 20-30. doi: 10.1162/DAED_a_00327

Schneiderman, N., Llabre, M., Cowie, C., Barnhart, J., Carnethon, M., Gallo, L. C., et al. (2014). Prevalence of diabetes among Hispanics/Latinos from Diverse Backgrounds: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). Diabetes Care, 37, 2233-2239. doi: 10.2337/dc13-2939