Healthcare in the Hispanic-American Community
There are 62,570,000 Hispanic-American people living in this country out of 330,000,000. These citizens work, live, and grow in this country and deserve all the freedoms that come with it, especially healthcare. Hispanic and Latino people have one of the highest uninsured rates in America, sitting at 19%. And those who have health coverage, still notice unfair treatment being given by doctors and other health workers. A study by Pew Research Center found that language and cultural barriers, poverty levels, citizenship status, and job occupation are some of the main reasons for Hispanic-Americans receiving such poor care, or none at all. This study showed that 53% felt that high-health-risk jobs were a major reason for worse health outcomes, 48% believe that it is due to the low access to healthcare in their areas, and 40-44% feel that language barriers and preexisting conditions are a leading cause of the inferior health care access.
As of 2020, 29,000,000 Hispanic-Americans were working in the labor force, which is a 19,000,000 person growth since the 1990s. The highest concentration of Hispanic people in the labor force reside in farming, fishing, forestry, building and ground maintenance, and construction. All of which are labor intensive jobs, which have a statistics of causing an 18% increase in a worker's premature death due to the physical strain. On top of that, 49% of Hispanic adults are middle-class and 15% of Hispanic-Americans are living below the poverty line as of 2022. Another major reason for the poor or decreased amount of healthcare for Hispanic-Americans is the language barrier. 58% of Hispanic immigrants attest to wanting to see a Spanish-speaking doctor over a non-Spanish-speaking doctor in order to more effectively communicate and receive help.
One man of Hispanic heritage that was quoted in the Pew Research Study stated, “I think a lot of times when they see us coming in or they see that they’re helping us out, they don’t feel like they have to give us the best medicine or they need to give us the best hope because they already feel like we probably come in with bogus insurance, if we even have insurance … So, they give us stuff that’s not as great or they don’t give us all the best information because they feel like we’re poor” (Pew Research Center). Due to the general discrimination and stereotyping of people of color in America, healthcare providers may overlook those who are seeking help. This problem is unjust and too easily overlooked by so many. And, though this is such a widespread issue, there are things that can be done on large and small scales to help solve these issues and get every American the care that they deserve.
Some of the things we as groups can do is to assist in spreading awareness for the government to increase the SNAP percentage which is a government allotted EBT card available to households in order for them to provide meals for their children. 16.2% of Latino and Hispanic households suffer from food insecurity, and while the SNAP card was helpful for many families, it does not cover enough. A 15% increase would allow these families to fully provide food for their children, which will improve their overall health, lowering their risk of certain health risks in the future. Another issue that should be dealt with within companies are the safety training and working conditions of the labor-intensive employees. As stated earlier, many Hispanic people work in labor intensive jobs and believe that labor intensive work is a major cause of poor health and a decreased quality of health treatment, which is why it is essential that corporations maintain decent working conditions.
The easiest way to improve healthcare coverage in Hispanic communities would be to make it more attainable by lowering the cost, and while this is something we all hope for and work to achieve, there are many negative factors working against that goal. Some things that can be done to improve the health of Hispanic-Americans on a smaller/immediate community scale are starting community gardens to have immediate access to fresh produce and improve food security. The lack of fresh produce in predominantly Hispanic communities as well as predominantly Black communities has always been a leading issue in health problems, and community gardens are a fast way to help solve that problem. It is also integral that communities maintain safe, clean places for children and adults to play and exercise. Not only that, but so much to improve healthcare for the Latino community can be done by encouraging students, children, and adults to become educated in and partake in STEM activities and activism programs that can lead to innovation and improvement in their communities.
Sources:
https://salud-america.org/19-ways-to-ensure-health-equity-for-latinos-during-and-after-coronavirus/