The Hispanic/Latino Populations: A Case Study

Throughout this first chapter of Latino Americans the key points in my opinion were the following. Starting with the origin story of the Americas, the book mentions there might not be a definitive starting point because there “500 nations in North America before a European ship ever dropped anchor off the Eastern Seaboard” (Suarez 3). The book from this point on chronologically starts narrating, first about 55 years before Protestant refugees from Mayflower ever stepped on American soil, a Spanish sailor Pedro Menendez de Aviles forced French protestants from their Florida coast settlement to then stablish St. Augustine. From this point the book continues to tell the stories of Juan de Oñate, from witnessing the founding of Santa Fe, the oldest capital of North America, to exploring more than half a dozen of American states, he is one of the most fundamental conquistadors who is the least

Currently within the United States one of the fastest growing minority population (Schwartz & Scott, 2012) is the Latinos. In 2010 Census Bureau Brief ( Ennis, Rois-Vargas, & Albert, 2011) it stated how an estimated 15 million Latino individuals were living within the United States, which is approximately about 16% of the entire U.S. population. There is one big problem with addressing the Latino population, and that is the family patterns are either misrepresented or not properly understood, due to the label of Hispanic and Latinos being placed together. These two groups may share the same spoken language of Spanish and have similar cultural ancestry but the diversity among Hispanic and Latinos (Schwartz & Scott, 2012) make generalizations about their lifestyles difficult. The term Hispanic came to be used in the 1970’s by government officials (cdc.gov, 2011) in trying to provide a diverse label on this population that had connections to speaking Spanish and the Spanish culture. Latino became more of a termed to be used when distinguishing between Mexican (Hispanics) and Latinos who descendants from Latin America such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

The following discussion and statements are done so such that they incorporate the ideas and struggles of the Latino races regarding certain subjects down upon chapter 3 “Latinos in the united states” and chapter 4 “borders, immigration and citizenship”. This discussion is about the oppression that people Latinos and Native Americans and other ethnic groups have gone through. Some points in the discussion are oppression towards Mexican American and Native Americans, how they were treated and the impact they had.

Approximately 1 in 6 individuals are Hispanic in the United States, and the population is expected to grow to 1 in 4 by 2035 (CDC, 2015). Given that, Hispanics are the biggest minority group in the US (CDC, 2015). The leading cause of death among the Hispanic population is heart disease and cancer responsible for around 2 out of 5 deaths (CDC, 2015). Hispanics have a 50% greater chance of death resulting from diabetes or liver disease than whites (CDC, 2015). Additionally, there are 3 times as more uninsured Hispanics than whites (CDC, 2015). According to the US average, whites are 15 years older than the Latino population, so prevention will greatly benefit the health of the Latino population (CDC, 2015).

Asian Americans face health disparities in cancer, chronic diseases, hypertension, and diabetes, mental health, and among the elderly (Sy, n.d.). I wanted to focus on what one of the most leading cause of Asian Americans or Pacific Islander is Cancer. Asian Americans generally have lower cancer rates than the non-Hispanics white population. However, disparities still exist in the certain type of cancer. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Asians are 40 percent less likely to have prostate cancer as white men, but they are twice as likely to have stomach cancer. Although Asians women are 30 percent less likely to have breast cancer than white women, they are twice as likely to have stomach cancer. OHM also conclude that Asian men and women have 2.1 and 2.3 times the incidence of liver and IBD cancer as the non-Hispanic white population. Asian are twice as likely to die from stomach cancer as compared to the non-Hispanic white population, and Asian women are 2.4 times as likely to die from the same disease (Office of Minority Health,

Socioeconomic factors, social environment, lifestyle behaviors and access to preventive health-care services contribute to health disparities in the Hispanic community (CDC.gov, 2004). Lack fluency with the English language and differences in cultural attitudes between the U.S. health-care system and Hispanic patients also contribute to health disparities.

The Hispanic community in the largest minority in the USA and the fastest growing, it is also one with a high incidence of preventable diseases such as Diabetes, periodontitis, colorectal cancer and HIV. Obesity and teen age pregnancy are significantly more prevalent in Hispanic/Latino population as well. Rate of vaccination is also below that of the majority of the population. Addressing their health care makes good public health and economic sense.

The information cited in this paper provides an insight into the health disparities that exist in the Hispanic population. It shows that Hispanics have increased rates of health problems when compared to other racial groups in the United States. These disparities have been shown to be connected to socioeconomic status. The information cited in this paper show that Hispanics have lower socioeconomic status than whites and their low socioeconomic status is implicated as a risk factor for health status. Furthermore, Hispanics face increased barriers to accessing care, receive poorer quality care, and ultimately experience worse health outcomes. For example, Hispanics have higher morbidity rates for diabetes, obesity, cancer, asthma and proliferative

In the African American community, health insurance can be more frequently unaffordable due to medical history or preexisting conditions, matrimonial status, lack of education and employment in jobs that do not provide adequate health care advantages. Because of the lack health insurance, many people do not go to doctors for preventative care, thereby significantly increasing the likelihood of cancer going undiagnosed until it enters late, and even untreatable stages. African Americans also have a higher risk of vulnerability to harmful toxins such as insecticides and pesticides when they are working on farms as well as using them in the home. (Johnson, 2015). The cancer mortality rate for African American men is 33 percent and for African American women is 16 percent (DeSantis, 2013). As a result, more African Americans that are living in industrialized and work environments along with air and water pollution are revealed to toxins that can lead to cancer (Johnson,

Latino immigrants have been coming to America for a very long time. Most of the time it is for economic prosperity that they were not able to obtain in their home country. The Latino minority group has been getting a stronger presence in the United States as the years go by, but very few people know or understand how Latinos tend to identify themselves.

Latino/Hispanic Americans cover a much wider demographic then believed. Latino/Hispanic Americans consist of; Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan American to name a few. Latino/Hispanic Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. The Latino/Hispanic culture is very different than ours. Their culture differs in economics, politics, family traditions, family structure, religion, education, language, fashion, art, music, dancing, and food. As natural born Americans in the United States it is important for us to learn about the different cultures migrating into the United States. Many United States citizens have a hard time understanding other cultures; being culturally insensitive is a common theme in the United

The National Cancer Institute provides great examples of cancer health disparities and the burdens each ethnic group face. Factors such as education, living conditions, exposure to environmental toxins, workplace, and access to healthcare can influence the survival rate and mortality rate of those diagnosed with cancer. More so, medically underserved populations face the most burdens resulting in late diagnosed or no treatment at

The United States is a melting pot of ethnicity, in which, the healthcare system and its benefits vary widely. Those who are able to obtain primary care insurance via a full time employer, typically have the benefits of full coverage care. However, for many minority groups, full time work alone is hard to acquire, along with the health benefits full time employment provides. Culturally competent care among the diverse populations helps increase health promotion and gain a cultural perspective. One of these mentioned groups is the Hispanic population which is steadily increasing within the United States.

Income level and level of education are known factors that continue to reveal in numerous studies on the effects of these factors as a health modulator positively or negatively. It was not surprising however then to see that Hispanic speaking Spanish only had lower rates of screening for colon cancer and my assumption is that they were less educated and by implication had lower income levels. I wonder what will be the results of a study like this conducted in Spanish if we will see differences in completion rates. It is sobering to see that even in primary prevention services especially for something that is known to save lives and tremendously reduce cost of disease treatment, , we see disparities that should not be there. As, APRNs, we are at the forefront and will be advocates for implementing services that decrease these disparities.

Cancer is the leading cause of death among Asians Americans, and rates vary with age, acculturation and location. The stated differences may represent the influence of environment, such as diet and health habits, and therefore may be modifiable. When it comes to liver and stomach cancer, Asian Americans are tree times more likely to develop liver cancer than non-Hispanic whites and twice as likely to develop liver cancer. In the Chinese, liver cancer is associated with Hepatitis B (precursor to liver disease and cancer) and in whites, liver cancer is primarily associated with alcohol. For colon cancer, it is suggested that diet is related, so is other environmental risk factors. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Chinese