Running Head: EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

TheEffectofHispanicCultureonHealthStatus:UsingtheSocialCategoriesof
TransculturalNursinsg
VanessaSanchez
CharlesRDrewUniversity

EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

TheuseofthesocialcategoriesinJournalofTransitionalNursing(vol.21)isa
greattooltoassessonessocialstatus.Inregardstothefirstsocialcategory,residence,
mynationalityisAmerican,ethnicityisMexican,andraceisHispanic.Forthesecond
category,religion,IpracticetheRomanCatholicfaith,whichisthepredominantreligion
fortheHispanicculture.Mylevelofeducationisahighschooldiploma,andbachelors
degree.Mygenderandgenderidentityisfemale,sexualorientationisheterosexual,and
maritalstatusissingle.MygrandparentsfrombothparentsemigratedfromMexico50
yearsago.Iliveinanuclearhouseholdwithmyparentsandsiblingsintheurbanlocation
ofLosAngeles,CA.UsingtheJournalofTransculturalNursing,Iwasabletoidentify
mysocialstatus.IwillnowdiscusshowtheHispanicculturescustoms,riskfactorsand
accesstohealthcareaffectthehealthstatus.
Behavioralriskfactors
Lowsocioeconomicstatusisassociatedwithunhealthybehaviorsorlifestyles
amongHispanics.Forexample,amongHispanicwomen,healthrelatedbehaviorssuch
asbeingoverweight,andbeingphysicallyinactivearemorecommonamongpersons
withalowersocioeconomicstatusthanamongthosewithahigherfinancialstatus
(Figure1).AmongHispanics,however,acculturationissignificantlyassociatedwith
healthrelatedbehaviors.Duringtheacculturationprocess,individualsarethoughtto
abandonthebehavioralnormsoftheircultureoforiginwhileadoptingthoseofanother
(Sobel,2014).

EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

OneofthemostimportanthealthproblemsfacingHispanicstodayisobesity.
Beingoverweightisariskfactorforanumberofmedicalconditionsincluding
hypertension,type2diabetes,coronaryheartdisease,stroke,gallbladderdisease,sleep
apnea,andendometrial,breast,prostrate,andcoloncancers(Perez,2014).Accordingto
theNationalCenterforHealthStatistics,40percentofMexicanmenand52percentof
Mexicanwomenareoverweight.Incomparison,34percentofwhitemenand33percent
ofwhitewomenareoverweight.
Physicalactivityiscloselylinkedtobeingoverweight.Generally,Hispanicslead
moresedentarylifestylesthanwhites.DatafromtheNationalHealthandNutrition
ExaminationSurveyIIIandtheNationalHealthInterviewSurveyindicatethat37percent
ofHispanicwomen(age18+)and30percentofHispanicmen(age18+)engageinno
leisuretimephysicalactivity,comparedwith25percentofwhitewomenand20percent
ofwhitemen.(Perez,2014).
Inasmallerstudy,conductedbyFitzgeraldin2015,40percentofmenand46
percentofwomenreportedasedentarylifestyle,comparedwith17percentofwhitemen
and23percentofwhitewomen.Thesefindingswerefurtherverifiedbyresultsfromthe
IllnessPerceptionsofHypertensionStudy(2014),whichalsofoundthatHispanicswere
lessphysicallyactivethanwhites.ThisstudyalsohasfoundthatHispanicchildren
exerciselessthanwhitechildren.
Accessto,anduseofhealthcareservices
NumerousstudieshavedocumentedthatHispanicslacksufficient
accesstohealthservicesforanumberofreasons,suchasfinancialbarriers,

EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

structuralbarriers,andpersonalbarrierstocare.Medicalinsuranceisamongthemost
importantdeterminantsofaccesstocare.UsingdatafromtheHispanicHealthand
NutritionExaminationSurvey,itwasfoundthatcostwasoneofthemostfrequently
mentionedfactorspreventingMexicanAmericansfromusinghealthcareservices.Lack
ofhealthinsuranceisasignificantaccessproblemforHispanics.Nationally,Hispanic
adultsyoungerthan65aresubstantiallymorelikelytobeuninsuredthanwhiteadults.
(Sobel,2014).
Thegeographicdistributionofprovidersalsomakesusinghealthcareservices
difficultforHispanicpatientsasfewproviders,especiallyphysicians,locatetheir
practicesinHispaniccommunities.InasurveyofphysiciansacrossCalifornia,
communitieswithhighproportionsofblackandHispanicresidentswerefourtimesas
likelyascommunitieswithhighproportionsofwhiteresidentstohaveashortageof
physicians,regardlessofincome(Andrews,2010).Moreover,inTheTheoreticalBasisof
TransculturalCare(2010),theextremeshortageofHispanichealthcareprofessionals
createsadditionalbarrierstocarebecauseHispanicphysiciansaremoreunlikelythan
otherphysicianstocareforHispanicanduninsuredpatients.
AsignificantnumberofHispanicpatientsfacelanguagebarrierswhenseeking
medicalcare.LanguagebecomesparticularlycriticalwhenSpanishspeakingpatients
encountermedicalproviderswhodonotspeakSpanishandwhodonothaveprofessional
interpretersavailable(Andrews,2010).Becausepatientprovidercommunicationis
centraltothehealthcaredeliveryprocess,poorcommunicationresultingfromlanguage
barriershasimplicationsforthequalityandoutcomesofcare.Forexample,poorpatient

EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

providercommunicationmayleadtoinappropriatemedicaltestinginanattemptto
establishadiagnosisintheabsenceofanadequatemedicalhistory.
Healthstatus
Accordingtomostgovernmentstatistics,thehealthofHispanicsisquite
favorablerelativetootherU.S.racial/ethnicgroups,whetheronelooksatlifeexpectancy,
adultmortality,orinfantmortality(Figure3).Theprojected2010lifeexpectancyatbirth
forHispanicmenandwomenwas75.1yearsand82.6years,respectively.Incomparison,
theprojectedlifeexpectancyforwhitemenandwomenwas74.0and80.3years,
respectively(Sobel,2014).AlthoughoverallmortalityratesforHispanicsandwhitesare
comparable,differencesemergeindiseasespecificmortalityrates(Table2).
Similarly,inthearticleGuidingtheProcessofCulturallyCompetentCare(2014),
itwasfoundthatageadjustedmortalityratesduetocerebrovasculardisease,malignant
neoplasms,chronicobstructivepulmonarydisease,pneumoniaandinfluenza,andsuicide
werehigheramongwhitesthanamongHispanics.Conversely,ageadjustedmortality
ratesduetochronicliverdisease,HPV/AIDS,unintentionalinjuries,andhomicideand
legalinterventionswerehigheramongHispanicsthanamongwhites.
DatasuggestthatforeignbornHispanics,U.S.bornHispanics,andnonHispanics
maydifferwithrespecttohealth.UsingdatafromtheNationalHealthInterviewsurvey,
itwasfoundthattherelativeriskofdeathwaslowestamongforeignbornHispanics,
followedbyU.S.bornHispanicsandthenwhites(Thomas,2014).Inaddition,they
foundthattherelativeriskofdyingamongforeignbornHispanicswhohadlivedinthe

EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

UnitedStatesforlessthan15yearswas23percentto45percentlowerthanthatofthose
whohadlivedintheUnitedStatesfor15yearsormore.
TheHispanicculturesbehavioralriskfactors,accesstohealthcare,andhealth
statusallcontributetotheiroverallhealthandbeliefs.Subsequently,acculturationplaysa
roleintotheinhealthrelatedbehaviors.AlthoughHispanicsappeartohaveprotective
attributesthatcountertheeffectsoflowsocioeconomicstatus,Hispanicswithhigher
socioeconomicstatushavebetterhealththanthosewithlowersocioeconomicstatus.
Therefore,itisimportanttoadvocateforpoliciestoimprovethesocialandeconomic
circumstancesofHispanicsinordertoimprovethehealthofthispopulation.

EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

References
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E.,Cronin,

S.,&Boccella,S.(2015).Anguish,yearning,andidentity:
Towardabetterunderstandingofthepregnanthispanicwoman'sprenatalcare
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Andrews,M.,Backstrand,J.,Boyle,J.,CampinhaBacote,R.,Davidhizar,D.,Doutrich,
M.,R.Zoucha.(2010).Chapter3:Theoreticalbasisfortransculturalcare..
JournalofTransculturalNursing

EFFECT OF HISPANIC CULTURE ON HEALTH STATUS

Perez,A.(2014).Acculturation,healthliteracy,andillnessperceptionsofhypertension
amonghispanicadults.JournalofTransculturalNursing,4(6),19.doi:
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Sobel,L.,&Sawin,E.(2014).Guidingtheprocessofculturallycompetentcarewith
hispanicpatients:AGroundedTheoryStudy.JournalofTransculturalNursing,
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Thomas,T.,Stephens,D.,JohnsonMallard,V.,&Higgins,M.(2014).Younghispanic
menandhumanpapillomavirusvaccinationchoices.JournalofTranscultural
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