The document summarizes preliminary data from a community health needs assessment of Latino/Hispanic populations in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Key findings include: 1) Obesity is the most commonly diagnosed chronic condition, followed by hypertension and diabetes. 2) Major barriers to healthcare access are lack of health insurance, cost of services, extended time between appointments, and lack of interpreter services. 3) Improved cultural competency training for healthcare providers and more effective outreach programs that address these barriers are needed to improve health outcomes in this population.

1. Azad R. Bhuyian, MD, MPH, PhD; Sophia S. Leggett, PhD, MPH; M. Georgina Barvié, BA; Pamela D. McCoy, MS, MPH; Sonya Gray, MPH Student; Ashley White, MPH student; Gerri
A. Cannon-Smith MD, MPH;
Jackson State University ■ College of Public Service ■ School of Health Sciences ■ Department of Behavioral and Environmental Health
Figure 6. Barriers to Healthcare
Conclusions
Preliminary data collected from Latino/Hispanic community members in
Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama reveal that of chronic conditions, obesity is the
most commonly diagnosed. Hypertension and diabetes are the next highest rank.
Barriers to health care access include: 1) lack of health insurance (66.7%), 2) cost
of services (50.8%), 3) extended length of time between health care
appointments/reluctance to see health care provider (21%), and 4) lack of
interpreter services (18.2%).
These findings imply that many barriers exist and could be addressed by
providing health education and information. Opportunities for action are at the
policy, program, individual, community, and health care provider levels. Most
notably, more health care information is obtained from family and church than from
health care providers. Three–fifths of provider-patient encounters are not
conducted in the clients’ primary language and are conducted without the use of
an interpreter in person or by telephone. Internet and media use for health
information are lower than the national average for this group surveyed.
Improved compliance with Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services
(CLAS) guidance and more effective use of primary health resources in outreach
programs would address these issues, but would require more comprehensive
environmental changes at the levels previously described. This study provides
additional insight into underutilization of health services and resources used for
health information in this population. Partnering with Hispanic / Latino social
service agencies in the tri-state area increases our scope. This information can be
used to assist in the development of more culturally competent systems of health
care.
Literature cited
Who Will Keep the Public Healthy? Workshop Summary Lyla Hernandez Editor, Committee on Educating Public,Intitute of Medicine, 2003 acquired from
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10759.html on June 25, 2009
Council on Linkages. Core competencies list. [Web document]. Washington, DC: The Council, 2001. [cited August2005].And updated May 2010
Gebbie KM, Turnock BJ. The public health workforce, 2006: new challenges. Health Aff ( Millwood). 2006. Jul–Aug;25:(4):923–33
Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions, Committee on Planning a Continuing Health
Professional Education Institute, Institute of Medicine, National Academies of Science,2009
Transforming Today's Health Care Workforce to Meet Tomorrow's Demands; The Richard and Linda Rosenthal Lecture 2007, Institute of Medicine, National Academies of Science ,
2008
Livingston, Gretchen, Susan Minushkin and D'Vera Cohn. 2008. "Hispanics and Health Care in the United States: Access, Information and Knowledge". Pew Research Center. It
may be accessed at
http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=91
Healthy People 2020 : Improving the Health of American, accessed from www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx, June 5, 2011
Acknowledgments
This poster was produced in part, by a grant with University of Mississippi
Medical Center's Institute for Improvement of Minority Health and Health
Disparities in the Delta Region (DRI) and was funded by the Department of Health
and Human Services' Office of Minority Health. (Prime Award Number 1
CPIMP091054-01-00). The DRI’s charge is to eliminate health disparities.
For Further Information
Behavioral and Environmental Health Equity Project, Jackson State University
Jackson Medical Mall, 350 W. Woodrow Wilson Avenue, Suite 2200-C
Jackson, MS 39213 Telephone: 601-979-1405 • FAX: 601-979-8818
E-mail: gerri.a.cannon-smith@jsums.edu
Behavioral and Environmental Health Equity Project
Tri-State Latino/Hispanic Community Health Needs Assessment (Preliminary Data)
Health Specialist/Bilingual Liaison Georgina Barvié (right) assists a
participant with answering survey questions for the Behavioral and
Environmental Health Equity Project Latino/Hispanic Community Needs
Assessment during the National Migration Week Festival, hosted by
Catholic Charities Immigration Clinic, Jackson, Mississippi.
Table 1. Demographic characteristics of Latino/Hispanic population
in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama
Figure 1. Length of time between healthcare visits
Figure 2. Survey respondents indicate that they primarily visit health
center and doctor’s office when they or their family members are sick
Figure 3. 55.6 % of participants do not have health insurance.
Figure 4. Health care appointments were conducted in English in 62.3% of
cases. Even though the health care provider spoke in English, a interpreter
was not provided in person or by telephone in 56.8% cases
Introduction
“Quality health care means doing the right thing, at the right time,
in the right way, for the right person — and having the best possible
results.” This is the challenge for health professionals serving diverse
populations. Racial/ethnic and other minority populations, including
the poor, have disparately poorer health outcomes. The Behavioral
and Environmental Health Equity Project’s tri-state area of
Mississippi Alabama and Louisiana lies in a geographic area that is
likewise known for poorer health outcomes. The quality of health
care influences health outcomes by several measures — usually
relating to the quality of care delivered, access to both acute and
preventive services (medical home), quality of the provider-client
interaction (patient-centeredness), safety, cultural health beliefs, and
experiences with the healthcare system.
This project is designed to collect , analyze, and summarize data
on health outcomes in the tri-state area in addition to collecting data
on barriers to care, health care experience, perceptions of care, and
preferences. Recommendations will be aimed at improving channels
of communication between groups of providers and consumers
which can be translated into geographically appropriate policy that is
consistent with HP 2020 and NPA objectives.
Materials and methods
Using national surveys (National Hispanic Health Alliance survey,
Pew Hispanic Health Survey) as models, a community survey and
focus group questions were piloted in Mississippi. The
questionnaire was revised and used for this tri-state study. One
hundred seventy-Five (175) Latino/Hispanic community members
and leaders in central and south Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama
were interviewed regarding community health issues, health status,
and quality of health care. The mean age of these participants was
38.7 with range 17 to 80 years old. Data were entered into the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 17, for
analysis.
Results
Demographic characteristics of the study sample are shown in
Table 1 as follows:
112 Central American and South Americans (66.7%), 43 (25.6%)
Mexican. Of the total study participants, 55.8% were female; 57%
completed up to a high school education; 41% earned an income of
less than $20,000 and a majority of them (73%) had Spanish
language preference.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Hypertension
Heart Disease
Lung Disease
Diabetes
Cancer
Depression
Obesity
%
Figure 5. Of the 18.7% survey respondents who reported chronic conditions,
obesity is the most commonly diagnosed. Two thirds (67%) have no chronic
health conditions.
Variables Number Percent
Ethnic origin
Hispanic/Latino
Ethnic group
Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano
Puerto Rican
Cuban
Central and South Americans
Gender
Male
Female
Education completed
No education
Elementary School
High School / GED
Vocational School
2 to 3 year college / university degree
4 year university degree
Other
Household income
Less than 20,000
20,000-39,999
40,000-59,999
60,000-79,999
80,000-99,999
100,000 and above
Language preference
Spanish
English
Both
175
43
7
4
112
----
76
96
----
4
46
48
21
25
20
9
----
66
51
20
14
3
6
----
115
38
4
100
25.6
4.2
2.4
66.7
----
44.2
55.8
----
2.3
26.6
27.7
12.1
14.5
11.6
5.2
----
41.3
31.9
12.5
8.8
1.9
3.8
----
73.2
24.2
2.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Never 3 or more years 1 to 2 years 6 months to 12
months
Less than 6
months
%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Health insurance Had a time without
insurance
Never had insurance
%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
English Spanish Both In Person By phone No provider
Appointment Conducted Interpreter Provided
%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Health center
Doctor's office
Health department
Emergency
Out patient
Free clinic
Other
Don't go to one place
Don't go at all
%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
%