Orange County Health Needs Assessment. (2011). A look at health in Orange County’s Hispanic/Latino community [Special Report]. Retrieved from http://www.ochna.org/: http://www.ochna.org/publications/2011Survey…
The ability for the mothers and care givers to access these services may be impaired because of lack of access to health care related to transportation and economics. A cultural norm in many of Hispanic families is both parents work at minimum pay jobs with no benefits, while a family member takes care of several children. This care giver is often an older person…
Hispanic/Latino Americans are less likely to take advantage of preventive care than non-Hispanic whites and other race. (Barker, 2013, p514). Within the standard of health care disparities, language and communication have been identified as critical additions to a culturally competent healthcare system. (Barker, 2013,…
Hispanic families and children are presented with many obstacles especially in accessing health care. The language barrier and lack of insurance make it difficult for them to access sustainable medical care. As a result, they become prone to communal diseases that are either water or air-borne. Hispanics and Latinos normally live in communities where their culture values relationships and the communal unit. This makes them more exposed to health hazards especially when there is an outbreak of a particular disease. Hispanic children enjoy playing and eating together in groups; whenever a child is affected with a communicable disease, their peers become affected. The lack of access to sustainable health care makes it even worse for them since they have to rely on caregivers to attend to them (Delese,2003). Moreover, the marginalized Hispanic community normally lacks the economic power required to take care of their families effectively.…
Findings suggest that the health advantage for Hispanics cannot be explain by thinking that first-generation immigrants are the ones creating the health gap. In fact, this study concludes that Hispanic citizens, who are likely to not be first generation immigrants, are the ones who gain the most. While the rate for recovery for non-citizens stay constant at around 52% and 50% for all races and Hispanics correspondently, the recovery rate for Hispanics citizens was at 45.71% while the recovery rate for other races was at 37.06%. Thus, although not establish any causation or correlation, this study points to the fact that health advantage among Hispanics is not due to the fact that people who are healthier are the ones migrating or that unhealthy people are moving back to their home country. In contrast, it shows that Hispanics who might be more stable within the U.S., and more assimilated since they have citizenship tend to benefit the most for being Hispanic. Thus, it is crucial to further explore the elements of Hispanics socio and economic backgrounds that might attribute to their health…
Over half of the population who identified as non-White are Latino/a American. Furthermore, it is noted that more than half of the population growth that occurred between 2000 and 2010 was due to an increase in the Latino/a American population. It was reported that from 2000 to 2010, the Latino/a American population increased by 43 percent thus making Latino/a Americans 16 percent of the overall U.S. population. On the other hand, a decrease in growth of the non-Hispanic White population was reported with a growth rate of less than one percent in a decade (Ennts et al.,…
The term ‘Hispanic’ recognizes people whose cultural ancestry lies first in Spain and then in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America which comprises of Mexico, Central America and most of South America except Brazil, and several Caribbean nations. The term gained wide spread prominence only after the 1960s. (Jorge Iber, 2005:6). Spanish and Portuguese explorers and settlers began to arrive in America in the early 1500s. With the intermingling of different communities over the years, most of the Hispanics living in the United States are of mixed heritage. In social research, the definition of any ethnic or racial group always tends to be problematic. Although they are all referred to as a whole, the Hispanics are not a homogenous ethnic or racial group as is perceived by people across the world. The term in itself could be a suitable label for people who do not comprehend the intricacies of this varied population. Despite these romanticised notions of a common identity and political cohesion, first generation immigrants never used to identify themselves as Hispanics. They have always perceived of themselves as Cubans, Mexicans,…
Latinos, whether American born or immigrants, have a complex relationship with the United States of America. Ever since the acquisition of what is now known as South Western America and the dramatic increase of Latino immigrants within the last 60 years, Latinos have brought profound political, social, and economic change to America. However, despite American being a “land of immigrants”, there are those who believe that this sudden influx and ever growing Latino population upset the established version of American life and threaten to displace and eventually erode American culture. Leo Chavez describes this xenophobia in what he calls the “Latino Threat Narrative” in his aptly titled book Latino Threat. The Latino Threat Narrative consists of several parts, first which is the belief that Latinos will not, or are unable to, assimilate in America, due to the language and the culture which they bring over from their respective homelands, and secondly, that by arriving in huge waves and settling in the United States, that Latinos are on a quest to “reclaim” the country for their own. (Chavez,The Latino Threat,2). This theory proposed by Chavez mainly focuses on Mexican Americans, as they are the largest Latino group in the United states, and also because Mexicans must also unfortunately accept the stereotype of Mexicans as the “ideal illegal alien”. However, the Latino Threat Narrative can and has applied to the other Spanish speaking groups in America, from Puerto Ricans to Dominicans and Cubans. Despite these claims of being unable to assimilate and replacing American culture, Latino migrants are a prime example of trasnantionalism, as they celebrate their homelands and their status as an American citizen. Events such as the Puerto Rican Day Parades and Cinco De Mayo prove that Latinos do not seek to over write American culture with their own, but instead choose to share it and also are able…
Over the past 20 years, Latino/a immigration to the USA has transformed how place and race are lived. The…
As with many nationalities Hispanic applies to a variety of people and as such we as social workers have to be mindful of our perceptions and any biases. In social workers pursuit to provide services it is vital that they have an understanding of their clients’ culture. The Hispanic population is a collection of a multitude of people from several ethnic backgrounds and as they grow the demand for competent/ diverse social workers increases. Social workers are tasked with building a trusting relationship with their clients and while this is not an easy task, it is especially important when working with this population. Hispanic clients are more likely to feel a provider is judging them unfairly. Those feelings can bring about barriers and roadblocks…
Latino neighborhoods have increased by 232% from 1980 to 2010 (Onesimo Sandoval & Jennings, 2012). Residential segregation, which I define as the Latino and White spatial segregation by income for this paper, is an important concept to consider when creating health policies that are meant to ensure equal health outcomes among society as a whole. Although the World Health Organization defines health to be “a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” empirical evidence and statistics show that residential segregation has a threatening impact on the physical and mental health outcomes for disadvantaged Latinos (WHO, 100). Therefore, it becomes a social determinant of the health of the fastest growing population in the country (Onesimo Sandoval & Jennings, 2012). However, health researchers and practitioners…
As the Latino community increasingly grows in the U.S., a large majority of individuals rejoice at the inevitable upcoming opportunities for political, economic, and social inclusion. This inevitable inclusion is obtainable primarily because the Latino community promotes itself and is promoted by others as a homogenous whole that is powerful in numbers. This homogeneity, although strategic also fails to recognize that through the same strategy it is also erasing and failing to allocate these future opportunities to every single group within the community and thus buttresses the cycle of subordination established by the dominant powers. Based on five informal interviews I conducted –all college students, four of which come from individuals of…
Because they are increasingly becoming more than half of our population, their dropout rate is magnified. This is also prevalent because the majority of them reside in these areas of Texas where the levels of poverty are significantly higher than that of other cities and states. Locations such as Houston and Dallas, Texas are said to be “ranked in the bottom third among major U.S. cities in shares of high school graduates.” One solution to this statistic could be the idea of converting these poorly developed areas of poverty into more acceptable living areas, which could possibly increase drive and determination in the citizens. Maybe the people living in those areas are greatly affected by their surroundings. I have a sufficient parable for this idea: In Washington State, the suicide rate of citizens there are far greater than that of most other states. This is said to be true because of the amount of rain and gloomy weather conditions that they endure daily. Could it be that the conditions in which you live plays a huge role in your want to succeed? I have quoted the reading in saying, “Among ethnic groups, Hispanics are undoubtedly the largest segment in poverty in Texas.” Also, “… more than half of the Hispanic population in Texas did not have a high school diploma. Anglos are more likely to attain higher levels of education…
Latinas now have the lowest college completion rates of any other racial group “only 19% have graduated with an associate’s degree or higher” according to Alicia Rascon the founder of Latinitas and Latinas in Progress. Latinitas is an organization that aims to mentor young girls throughout their teen years about college readiness as well as aiding them in the process of applying to universities. Latinitas seeks to make even the smallest dent in the percentage of Latinas who graduate with at the very least an associate’s degree. Latinas in Progress is the high school exclusive organization that meets once a month for a total of five sessions at partnering colleges in the area. These monthly meetings give the girls a feel for the ambiance of…
One of the reasons I enjoy working for the Community of Northeast Ohio is because I believe I can have a powerful effect on people’s lives. America is currently facing hardship times and we should all, for the most part, enter into collaborate agreements to support community engagement. I believe we should identify the relevant issues and make decisions about how to address them, evaluate and share the results with the community. As the current Executive Director of the Christian Family Center, we are faced with the increasingly difficult challenge of stabilizing our communities and neighborhoods in the face of the devastating impact of economic disruptions and dislocation, foreclosure, joblessness, and diminishing traditional resources. My passion to work, not just with the Hispanic Community, but with all the communities of Northeast Ohio, is what drives me to succeed and make a significant impact on those with great need. The statistics indicate that unemployment, foreclosure, high costs of Health Care and poverty levels are constantly rising across all of Northeast Ohio. According to a recent article published in The Plain Dealer on September 29, 2010, one out of every three people lived in poverty at the end of 2009, making Cleveland the second-poorest big city in America, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Many people, in my opinion, are feeling the pangs of hunger and fear for the first time in our communities. Between 2007 and 2009, poverty increased in Cuyahoga, Summit and Lake Counties, rose sharply in Lorain and Portage counties, and nearly doubled in Geauga County, where poverty ensnared 9 percent of the community, according to a Plain Dealer analysis of census data. And more than half of Cleveland's children -- 51.3 percent -- are growing up poor, according to the Census Bureau. Escalating medical costs are threatening the nation’s…