Select an ethnic minority group that is represented in the United States (American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian American, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander). Using health information available from Healthy People, the CDC, and other relevant government websites, analyze the health status for this group.

In a paper of 1,000-1,250 words, compare and contrast the health status of your selected minority group to the national average. Include the following:

Describe the ethnic minority group selected. Describe the current health status of this group. How do race and ethnicity influence health for this group?
What are the health disparities that exist for this group? What are the nutritional challenges for this group?
Discuss the barriers to health for this group resulting from culture, socioeconomics, education, and sociopolitical factors.
What health promotion activities are often practiced by this group?
Describe at least one approach using the three levels of health promotion prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary) that is likely to be the most effective in a care plan given the unique needs of the minority group you have selected. Provide an explanation of why it might be the most effective choice.
What cultural beliefs or practices must be considered when creating a care plan? What cultural theory or model would be best to support culturally competent health promotion for this population? Why?
Cite at least three peer-reviewed or scholarly sources to complete this assignment. Sources should be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria and public health content.

ANSWER

Select an ethnic minority group that is represented in the United States (American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian American, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander). Using health information available from Healthy People, the CDC, and other relevant government websites, analyze the health status for this group.

In a paper of 1,000-1,250 words, compare and contrast the health status of your selected minority group to the national average. Include the following:

Describe the ethnic minority group selected. Describe the current health status of this group. How do race and ethnicity influence health for this group?
What are the health disparities that exist for this group? What are the nutritional challenges for this group?
Discuss the barriers to health for this group resulting from culture, socioeconomics, education, and sociopolitical factors.
What health promotion activities are often practiced by this group?
Describe at least one approach using the three levels of health promotion prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary) that is likely to be the most effective in a care plan given the unique needs of the minority group you have selected. Provide an explanation of why it might be the most effective choice.
What cultural beliefs or practices must be considered when creating a care plan? What cultural theory or model would be best to support culturally competent health promotion for this population? Why?
Cite at least three peer-reviewed or scholarly sources to complete this assignment. Sources should be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria and public health content. Select an ethnic minority group that is represented in the United States (American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian American, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander). Using health information available from Healthy People, the CDC, and other relevant government websites, analyze the health status for this group.

In a paper of 1,000-1,250 words, compare and contrast the health status of your selected minority group to the national average. Include the following:

Describe the ethnic minority group selected. Describe the current health status of this group. How do race and ethnicity influence health for this group?
What are the health disparities that exist for this group? What are the nutritional challenges for this group?
Discuss the barriers to health for this group resulting from culture, socioeconomics, education, and sociopolitical factors.
What health promotion activities are often practiced by this group?
Describe at least one approach using the three levels of health promotion prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary) that is likely to be the most effective in a care plan given the unique needs of the minority group you have selected. Provide an explanation of why it might be the most effective choice.
What cultural beliefs or practices must be considered when creating a care plan? What cultural theory or model would be best to support culturally competent health promotion for this population? Why?
Cite at least three peer-reviewed or scholarly sources to complete this assignment. Sources should be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria and public health content.

Health Status & Promotion: Hispanic/Latino Population

The USA is described as a melting pot, a metaphor used to show a multicultural society with fused and united nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures due to increased globalization and globalism. According to the USCB, the population encompasses the majority being Whites (60.1%) and the minority being Hispanics/Latino, African American, Native Hawaiian, AI/AN, and Pacific Islanders (39.9%) (USCB, 2020). Compared with the majority populations, the minority continue to experience disproportionate health burdens with high representation in chronic diseases, health related deaths, minimal health access, and general wellbeing. Therefore, this essay explores and compares the health status, disparities, barriers, and challenges of the Hispanic/Latino minority group with the USA’s national average health rates and describes an intervention strategy aimed at health promotion for this population.

Identification and Description of Selected Minority Group

The Hispanic/Latino ethnic group includes people with ancestry from Spain-speaking countries, Latin America, South and Central America, such as Cubans, Mexicans, Dominicans, and Puerto Ricans. According to 2019 USCB, Hispanics/Latinos are estimated to account for 18.5% of the USA population, equivalent to 60.7 million, the largest ethnic minority group, and are expected to rise in the future (USCB, 2020). This ethnic group’s health status can be evaluated through insurance coverage, life expectancies, and health concern factors. As of 2019, Hispanic/Latinos account for the largest number of uninsured groups in the USA (Gómez, et al., 2019). The table below illustrates a comparison of the ethnic group health status with the national average, according to the CDC (2020) (CDC, 2020). According to the analysis below, their cultural barriers, high rates of lack of healthcare access, language barrier, and lack of health insurance coverage influence this group’s health status and outcome. Moreover, through the SDOH analysis, their socioeconomic and immigration status highly influence their health status.

Health Disparities and Nutritional Challenges for the Minority Group

Health disparities refer to the differences in health-related conditions among different groups focusing on the prevalence, mortality rates, and incidences. According to the above comparison, this group has higher incidence rates of obesity (44.8%) than non-Hispanic whites and the average national figure (39.8%). More health disparities are experienced among the subgroups of this minority group. For instance, obesity rates vary from 26.8% among S. American men to 51.4% among Puerto Rican women. Puerto Ricans have low birth weight rates, double among Caucasians (Velasco-Mondragon, Jimenez, Palladino-Davis, Davis, & Escamilla-Cejudo, 2016). Mexican born Americans record disproportional diabetes rates, while Puerto Ricans record higher disproportional rates in infant mortality and HIV/AIDS. This ethnic group’s nutritional challenges are high due to the inability to afford nutritious food with increased linkages to impoverishment. Dietary quality among Hispanic/Latinos is low, with recommendations to align more with DGA (Dietary Guidelines for Americans) to improve fatty acid and sodium consumption (Siega-Riz, et al., 2019).

Barriers to Health for Minority Group

Notable health barriers among Hispanics/Latinos include socioeconomic status, cultural background, socio-political factors such as documentation status, unemployment rate, occupational risks, and education levels (Gómez, et al., 2019). Hispanics residing in the USA are four times likely not to have completed their high school education, twice likely to live under the poverty line index, and twenty times likely not to speak English. These statistics result in increased language barriers and communication, impeding effective healthcare access: low socioeconomic status resulting in low ability to access health insurance coverage due to the high costs: increased mortality rate due to occupational risks. Due to low education attainment and documentation or immigration status, the ethnic group has an employment rate of 59.9% and 3.8% unemployment rate, the highest unemployment rate (Velasco-Mondragon, Jimenez, Palladino-Davis, Davis, & Escamilla-Cejudo, 2016). This results in an unskilled workforce in high-risk jobs, which maximize their occupational risks and low source of livelihood that cannot service high health costs.

Health Promotion Activities Practiced by Minority Group

Hispanic/Latino population is known to be disproportionally at risk with health disparities compared to other ethnic groups. Health-promoting activities have been integrated into their lifestyles to address their health concerns, including adopting healthy lifestyle responsibility, improving their interpersonal relations, conducting stress management, integrating physical activity regimens, and increasing spiritual growth (Gómez, et al., 2019).

Three Levels of Health Promotion Prevention

A health promotion preventive approach that can be adopted to promote healthy quality and wellbeing among Hispanic/Latinos is a ‘Health in All Policies Approach’ (Velasco-Mondragon, Jimenez, Palladino-Davis, Davis, & Escamilla-Cejudo, 2016). It addresses all SDOH forces developing collaborative strategies that improve the population’s overall wellbeing and health. The approach seeks to expand healthcare access and disease screening (Secondary Prevention), creating community inclusiveness and legitimacy (Tertiary Prevention). In addition to developing cultural sensitivity among healthcare practitioners for improved doctor-patient relationships (Primary Prevention), developing, educating (health literacy), and disseminating adequate research findings (Primary Prevention) on Hispanic/Latino Health. It is the most effective choice because it addresses the population’s unique needs and barriers to effective healthcare access. For instance, cultural barriers will be addressed by developing cultural sensitivity among healthcare practitioners for improved doctor-patient relationships. Barriers of alienation (documentation/immigration status) will be addressed by increasing community legitimacy. Increasing healthcare access will include increasing Hispanic/Latino health workers and favorable eligibility of ACA and Medicaid, addressing the high number of uninsured personnel.

Cultural Competent Health Promotion for Ethnic Minority Population

Health promotion and care plan creation among the Hispanic/Latino ethnic group requires increased cultural sensitivity and competence among healthcare practitioners to improve doctor-patient relationships and overall health access. Cultural background and limited English proficiency among the population have been identified as primary health access barriers. Hence, when creating a care plan, being a culturally rich heritage, cultural beliefs or practices to be considered include cultural values on healing including the beliefs on traditional and alternative medicine, stigmatization placed on mental health, and role of religion on medicine, health procedures, and ‘death.’ The population has major reservations regarding death; hence, indirect communication should be applied. Maximizing cultural competence and sensitivity can be established using the transcultural nursing model, specifically, adopting the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence (Albougami, Pounds, & Alotaibi, 2016). This model includes 12 domains that enable nurses to view patients’ attributes when creating a care plan comprehensively. They include overview or heritage, communication, family roles and organization, workforce issues, bio-cultural ecology, high-risk behaviors, nutrition, pregnancy, death rituals, spirituality, healthcare practices, and healthcare professionals. These domains are comprehensive, providing a wide range of traits of evaluating the Hispanic/Latino salient features and composition in three levels: society, family, and individual levels.

Conclusion

The Hispanic/Latino population faces numerous disparities and discrepancies with a disproportional risk, despite the efforts to improve health indicators such as life expectancies and mortality rates. Socioeconomic status, cultural background, documentation status, unemployment rate, occupational risks, and education levels are notable healthcare barriers. However, through the Health in All Policies Approach and the Purnell Model for Cultural Competence, culturally sensitive and competent health promotion is acquired.

References

Albougami, A. S., Pounds, K. G., & Alotaibi, J. S. (2016). Comparison of Four Cultural Competence Models in Transcultural Nursing: A Discussion Paper. International Archives of Nursing and Health Care, DOI: 10.23937/2469-5823/1510053.

BLS. (2020, November 6). Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age. Retrieved from US BLS: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t03.htm

CDC. (2020, November 2). Health of Hispanic or Latino Population. Retrieved from CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hispanic-health.htm

Gómez, M. G., Jaramillo, A. M., Svarch, A., Tonda, J., Lara, J., Anderson, E. J., & Rosales, C. (2019). Together for Health: An Initiative to Access Health Services for the Hispanic/Mexican Population Living in the United States. Public Health, 24;7:273. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00273.

Siega-Riz, A. M., Pace, N. D., Butera, N. M., Horn, L. V., Daviglus, M. L., Harnack, L., . . . Sotres-Alvarez, D. (2019). How Well Do U.S. Hispanics Adhere to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans? Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Health Equity, 3(1): 319–327. doi: 10.1089/heq.2018.0105.

USCB. (2020). QuickFacts United States. Retrieved from United States Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219

Velasco-Mondragon, E., Jimenez, A., Palladino-Davis, A. G., Davis, D., & Escamilla-Cejudo, J. A. (2016). Hispanic health in the USA: a scoping review of the literature. Public Health Rev, 7;37:31. DOI: 10.1186/s40985-016-0043-2.