Hispanic Community

Health Equity for Hispanic Populations

Section Leader(s): Dr. Christopher Steele, MD MPH MS and Emma Kryzanski

 

Introduction

The Hispanic population includes all native-born and foreign-born individuals immigrating from Latin America, the Caribbean, or Spain1. In the United States, the Hispanic population is the largest and fastest growing minority group, making up 17.4% of the population that is expected to increase to 28.6% of the population by 20601. 

Despite being a significant and expanding part of our nation, the Hispanic population faces interpersonal and structural discrimination that negatively affects their social determinants of health. For example, compared to non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics have a 52% lower median household income, are more likely to be working unskilled, high-risk jobs, and are more nearly 3 times as likely to drop out of high school.1 Collectively, these disparities of social determinants of health create health and health care disparities for the Hispanic population.

While each Hispanic individual is unique in their identity, values, lifestyle, and experiences, understanding social determinant of health trends and health and health care disparities that are largely present with in the Hispanic population can better prepare medical providers to provide equitable health care for their Hispanic patients. The goal of this module is to introduce learners to the U.S. Hispanic population and its profile in regards to social determinants of health and better prepare learners to create health equity for the Hispanic population through patient care and advocacy.

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, learners will be able to do the following:

  1. Define the term “Hispanic” and describe its relation to race, ethnicity, and Latinx.
  2. Describe the current demographic profile of the Hispanic population within the United States.
  3. Explain how different social determinants of health shape the health of the Hispanic population in the United States.
  4. Summarize health trends apparent within the U.S. Hispanic population, including the Hispanic Health Paradox and major health disparities for this community.
  5. Identify a medical provider’s role to create health equity for the Hispanic populations, including actions they can take from both an interpersonal and structural level.

 

Content Materials

  1. E. Kryzanski Hispanic Health and Health Care
  2. E. Kryzanski Creating Health Equity for the Hispanic Populations
  3. Velasco-Mondragon E, Jimenez A, Palladino-Davis AG, Davis D, Escamilla-Cejudo JA. Hispanic health in the USA: a scoping review of the literature. Public Health Reviews. 2016;37(1). doi:10.1186/s40985-016-0043-2
    https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-016-0043-2 
  4. Hostetter M, Klein S. In Focus: Identifying and Addressing Health Disparities Among Hispanics. Commonwealth Fund. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2018/dec/focus-identifying-and-addressing-health-disparities-among-hispanics. Published December 27, 2018. Accessed July 6, 2021.
    https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2018/dec/focus-identifying-and-addressing-health-disparities-among-hispanics 
  5.  Take the skin tone Implicit Association Test
    https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

 

References

  1. Velasco-Mondragon E, Jimenez A, Palladino-Davis AG, Davis D, Escamilla-Cejudo JA. Hispanic health in the USA: a scoping review of the literature. Public Health Reviews. 2016;37(1). doi:10.1186/s40985-016-0043-2
  2. Community-Based Strategies for Improving Latino Health. PolicyLink. https://www.policylink.org/resources-tools/community-based-strategies-for-improving-latino-health. Accessed July 7, 2021.
  3. Hostetter M, Klein S. In Focus: Identifying and Addressing Health Disparities Among Hispanics. Commonwealth Fund. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2018/dec/focus-identifying-and-addressing-health-disparities-among-hispanics. Published December 27, 2018. Accessed July 6, 2021.
  4. Dominguez K, Penman-Aguilar A, Chang M-H, et al. Vital Signs: Leading Causes of Death, Prevalence of Diseases and Risk Factors, and Use of Health Services Among Hispanics in the United States — 2009–2013. Center for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2015;64(17):469-478.
  5. Ramirez A. Achieving a Cohesive Culture for Health Equity in Latino and All Communities: A Research Review. Salud America. https://salud-america.org/achieving-a-cohesive-culture-for-health-equity-in-latino-and-all-communities-a-research-review/. Published September 15, 2020. Accessed July 7, 2021.
  6. Wolf R, Le Guin C. Resources for Instructors. Illumination Project - Race and Racism Curriculum. https://www.pcc.edu/illumination/instructors/. Accessed July 8, 2021.