1 Health Disparity among Latino Introduction Healthcare is one of the basic needs that a normal human being must be granted. Not only should healthcare be granted but it should be of high quality that is beneficial to all who need it. In the recent past the Latinos have experienced disparities with health care being affected. However, there are different temperaments of these disparities. This is because of the many differences that they have being foreigners these include external and internal factors such as the language barrier, limited health insurance they also seem to lack trust from the rest. However, this is not the case as the quality of healthcare differs based on very many factors some of which include external factors that goes under xenophobia such as race, geography, disability, ethnicity, sex or gender, income, immigrant status, and sexual orientation. This difference in the quality of healthcare brings in the concept of healthcare disparity among a population. In the case of Latino, these disparities are greatly influence by internal factors such as language and cultural barriers, poor healthcare literacy, limited health workers, insufficient health insurance, and distrust health providers among others. Definably, healthcare disparity can be described as the moral standing or disability as well as elevated burden of harm which are normally felt by the majority social group. This group usually has a common location, gender, ethnicity or status. Healthcare disparity is an important factor when it comes to the discussion on the health status of a nation; this is because the variations in healthcare provided waters down the overall quality of health and also has drastic effects on the given population. The disparities that are experienced in the health sector are majorly seen by the African American, Hispanic/Latino, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans as compared to the white population of the country. These subgroups of the populations face health disparity majorly because of social factors such as their lower literacy levels, their low economic status, poor housing that is unsafe for all human habitation, and their habitation areas are near environmental hazards. With all these contributing factors the effects of healthcare disparity are visible due to the low numbers of the population in this subgroup being able to acquire health insurance and also the high financial burden that this population experiences when disaster strikes them. Healthcare disparity is an area where not only the government should get involved in, but also non-governmental organizations that have the will and the resources should take part in so that this situation can be rectified for it has a high impact on the finances of the individuals affected and consequently on the economy of the country. This paper, therefore, gives insight on healthcare disparity among the Latino community who have for years been on the receiving end of this situation. T.

1. 1
Health Disparity among Latino
Introduction
Healthcare is one of the basic needs that a normal human being
must be granted. Not only should healthcare be granted but it
should be of high quality that is beneficial to all who need it. In
the recent past the Latinos have experienced disparities with
health care being affected. However, there are different
temperaments of these disparities. This is because of the many
differences that they have being foreigners these include
external and internal factors such as the language barrier,
limited health insurance they also seem to lack trust from the
rest. However, this is not the case as the quality of healthcare
differs based on very many factors some of which include
external factors that goes under xenophobia such as race,
geography, disability, ethnicity, sex or gender, income,
immigrant status, and sexual orientation. This difference in the
quality of healthcare brings in the concept of healthcare
disparity among a population. In the case of Latino, these
disparities are greatly influence by internal factors such as
language and cultural barriers, poor healthcare literacy, limited
health workers, insufficient health insurance, and distrust health
providers among others.
Definably, healthcare disparity can be described as the moral
standing or disability as well as elevated burden of harm which
are normally felt by the majority social group. This group
usually has a common location, gender, ethnicity or status.
Healthcare disparity is an important factor when it comes to the
discussion on the health status of a nation; this is because the
variations in healthcare provided waters down the overall
quality of health and also has drastic effects on the given

2. population. The disparities that are experienced in the health
sector are majorly seen by the African American,
Hispanic/Latino, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans as
compared to the white population of the country.
These subgroups of the populations face health disparity
majorly because of social factors such as their lower literacy
levels, their low economic status, poor housing that is unsafe
for all human habitation, and their habitation areas are near
environmental hazards. With all these contributing factors the
effects of healthcare disparity are visible due to the low
numbers of the population in this subgroup being able to
acquire health insurance and also the high financial burden that
this population experiences when disaster strikes them.
Healthcare disparity is an area where not only the government
should get involved in, but also non-governmental organizations
that have the will and the resources should take part in so that
this situation can be rectified for it has a high impact on the
finances of the individuals affected and consequently on the
economy of the country. This paper, therefore, gives insight on
healthcare disparity among the Latino community who have for
years been on the receiving end of this situation. This paper
goes further to discuss the steps that have been taken to counter
the healthcare disparity and what more needs to be done to
improve the state of health in the country.
The significance of the study
The study on healthcare disparity that is centered on the Latino
community is important as it is aimed at looking into the causes
of healthcare disparity among the Latino community in
America. Further, this study is analyses the solutions that have
so far been given t curb this problem and get to understand their
merits and demerits about the marginalized communities that
are the Latinos.
Apart from the analysis of the problem and the policies put in
place to curb them, this paper goes ahead to include the
solutions that can be implemented by the government to
eradicate the issue of healthcare disparity. The solutions

3. presented in this paper are from the analysis of the research
carried out among the community and the suggestions that they
give during data collection.
Solution
s will be presented in the recommendations section of this
paper.
Latin or Hispanic Americans are American citizens who are
descendants of Spain and Latin America. The United States of
America has the largest number of Latin Americans that are
outside their places of origin. The ancestry of the Latin
Americans can be traced back to 1565 after the founding of St.
Augustine by the Spanish people. The Latino community came
into existence in America since Spain had colonized most of
what is known as America today including states such as
Florida, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas.
Apart from the native Latino population in the country, there
are immigrants who cross the border to New York and New-
Jersey from the Latin American States. Despite having a large
population and also the benefit of being native in America the
population has not benefitted from good healthcare due to
various factors that are going to be discussed in the following
sections of this literature review.
According to a survey that was conducted it shows that diabetes

4. is the main disease among the Latinos with cancer being ranked
as the second biggest concern. Diabetes being a hereditary
disease has led to many children born being diabetic and hence
this has continued for ages. Health care is a great concern
among across with the world and this has increased every day.
This is because of the disparities increase and hence the
increase of Latinos.
For various centuries, the Latino group has undergone a number
of disparities in terms of healthcare. With the adverse effects
that are posed by this social menace, it is very vital to address it
in a strategic manner. One of the end results of this issue is that
it increases the medical expenses particularly in cases where
one requires a specialized treatment. Despite the fact that these
disparities exist, it should be noted that they differ in various
Latino groups. Vásquez and Mejjia state that the each and every
Latino group has its own distinctive health profile and that
leads to inequalities in the emergence and occurrence of lasting
health disorders. (2) Nonetheless, the common factors that
contribute to the endless health disparities among the Latino
group can be categorized as follows:
Language/cultural barriers
Language and culture has been cited as the major health
disparity factor among the Latino Community. This has been
fostered by the fact that the barriers of language can lead to
misinterpretation of their health care needs. One of the cases on

5. the matter of cultural barriers is that a population of this society
still belive in ancient healers and not modern medication.
Nonetheless, Language is a crucial factor in the health sector as
on is often required to express his/her condition to the physician
in the most appropriate manner. Also, the patient must also be
in a position to get directives and prescriptions from the
physician. This can only be achieved in an environment where
there is no language barrier. Case in point, most of the Latino
populations especially those that are immigrants to the country
know of only one language that is Spanish, while most of the
healthcare providers are only fluent in English and cannot
communicate with the Latino patients. In such a case then the
ability of the caregiver to make appropriate decisions on the
medication that is going to be administered to a particular
patient based on what they have described would be difficult
and even trying to explain the procedure of treatment to the
patient would be more daunting.
Focusing on cultural practices, a good number of the Latino are
still being guided by the belief in traditional healing rather than
seeking specialized modern treatment. For instance, most of the
Latino Americas still visit their traditional “doctor” who is
commonly referred to as curandero. The curandero prescribes
treatment to patients using conventional means of herbs and
rituals that are believed to cure the diseases that are one is
suffering from. Apart from the curandero offering traditional

6. means of healing, there are some who totally do not believe in
modern medicine and also do not believe in the curandero since
they consider them evil and these individuals believe in the
healing power of prayer. This group of people prays and waits
for healing from God. Despite lack of scientific evidence that
the cultural healing practices are poor some of the individuals
who seek those healing practices do not get the expected results,
and modern medicine is a better way to go around their
illnesses.
Limited Health Insurance
Additionally, the aspect of inadequate health insurance is an
essential factor to consider when discussing healthcare
disparities. For instance, Miguel argues that a larger percent of
Latino children have limited access to healthcare insurance. The
study illustrated that more that 26% of the uninsured kids came
from Latino families while only less that 10% came from the
White families. This is a clear indication that Latino children
were highly disadvantaged when it came to healthcare
interventions compared to other children. In relation to Elias
and Nilsson’s perception, it is evident that Latinos expenditure
on healthcare is relatively low compared to the white families.
The lack of inadequate health insurance among the Latino
population is attributed to two main reasons that are low income
and lack of knowledge on the advantages of taking insurance
covers.

7. The low income does not allow for the population to take
insurance covers that will help them pay their hospital bills.
The low income in this population, especially among the
immigrant Latinos, is because most of them are involved in
manual labor as their sole source of income and do not have the
capability of getting employment that has benefits since they
lack in the required academic skills. The population is also not
well informed about the advantages of the insurance covers and
how the covers work. Latino’s expenditure on health is
significantly low irrespective to high income and access to
education.
Low Healthcare Literacy
Healthcare literacy can be referred to as the way patients tend to
perceive illness and treatment. Health literacy is a vital facet in
structuring an effective health care. As such, healthcare
education can be used to elliminate healthcare disparities.
Healthcare literacy particularly applies in the context of
preventive care that should be general knowledge to everyone.
This kind of information is readily available in all platforms
such as television, newspapers and even social media but due to
the low literacy levels of this population demographics, then
this kind of information is not readily available to them. Such
type of information may include cancer detection, which is the
second leading cause of death among the Latinos, which has
symptoms that are exhibited in the early stages of its

8. development such as lumps, the presence of blood in urine
among others. Other leading causes of death are a stroke, liver
disease, hypertension and diabetes all of which can be classified
as lifestyle diseases and which have preventive measures that
lead to lifestyle changes.
Lack of Trust from Healthcare Providers
According to Cohen (2014), existence of distrust among the
Latino patients and doctors has facilitated health disparity. The
health practitioners highly perceive that the patients will not
follow their prescriptions and most likely during pain treatment.
Latinos are commonly painted with an image of abusing drugs
which makes even those who does abuse them become victim of
misjudgment. Due to the prevailing distrust, the Latino patients
experience much pain and suffering which brings about other
health problems related to pain. The healthcare providers are
shy in prescribing medication that is opioid and which has high
addiction and dependence if misused or abused. Some of these
opioid drugs include codeine, hydrocodone, and morphine,
oxycodone. This lack of leads to the individuals suffering and
thus the quality of healthcare that is administered can be
considered as poor.
Few Healthcare Workers
The Latino community has access to a fewer number of
healthcare professionals, which can be linked to the health

9. workers’ reluctance to practice in underserved areas, such as
rural, remote or poor areas. Most of the Latino settlements are
located in remote areas that are far away from the major towns
and urban centers which make them not to be easily located by
the healthcare providers such as doctors and pharmacists. The
location of their settlements also is not encouraging to the
doctors who have been posted to such areas they are always
reluctant in settling in those areas that they deem remote. Apart
from the location of their settlements, there may be a cultural
difference between the medical practitioner and the local
population in terms of language and even the cultural practices
that contribute to them not settling in those areas. Certainly, it
is evident that the absence of health practitioners in the rural
parts of Latino society imposes a negative influence on the
availability of health services.
Works Cited
Cohen, Jennifer A. Challenges And Successes In Reducing
Health Disparities. National Academies Press, 2014.
Fong, Rowena et al. Addressing Racial Disproportionality And
Disparities In Human Services.
Gibbons, Michael Christopher. Ehealth