HEALTH CARE SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR HISPANICS 1
Health Care Support System for Hispanics
Name
Institutional Affiliation
, HEALTH CARE SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR HISPANICS 2
Health Care Support System for Hispanics
When I was going my usual routine yesterday, Carolina Santos was brought in to the
hospital for high fever, and I had to admit her. The 19-year old female is a student at Florida
International University, an institution with a predominantly Hispanic population. The patient
information, including name, hints that she is of Hispanic origin. Latino culture has some social
and economic factors that affect patient health outcomes hence the need to consider them during
patient interviews.
A significant factor to consider is language, in that Hispanics have varying language
fluency across subgroups. The 2017 census data indicated that 72 percent of Hispanics use other
words other than English and that about 29 percent of them are not fluent in English (Villalona et
al., 2019). For that reason, when conducting this interview, the first thing to consider is whether
the patient can speak and understand English to prevent miscommunication errors. Limited
English proficiency tends to obstruct patient-provider communication, thus serving as a causal
factor to medical errors, including misdiagnosis. It is, therefore, critical to take consideration of
language to provide high-quality care. That calls for having a translator and interpreter who helps
the patient and physician share information and make care decisions.
The economic status of the patient is also essential to consider during interviews. Among
Hispanics, low average income hinders access to timely and quality health services. Hispanics
make up a large number of uninsured persons compared to other racial/ethnic groups in America.
In 2017, about 17 percent of Hispanics did not have insurance covers, while non-Hispanics made
up 5.9 percent (Berchick, Hood & Barnett, 2018). Lack of insurance cover is a hindrance to the
affordability of medical services; thus, most individuals opt for home care. For that reason, the
clinician conducting the interview should consider whether therefore the student is using an
Health Care Support System for Hispanics
Name
Institutional Affiliation
, HEALTH CARE SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR HISPANICS 2
Health Care Support System for Hispanics
When I was going my usual routine yesterday, Carolina Santos was brought in to the
hospital for high fever, and I had to admit her. The 19-year old female is a student at Florida
International University, an institution with a predominantly Hispanic population. The patient
information, including name, hints that she is of Hispanic origin. Latino culture has some social
and economic factors that affect patient health outcomes hence the need to consider them during
patient interviews.
A significant factor to consider is language, in that Hispanics have varying language
fluency across subgroups. The 2017 census data indicated that 72 percent of Hispanics use other
words other than English and that about 29 percent of them are not fluent in English (Villalona et
al., 2019). For that reason, when conducting this interview, the first thing to consider is whether
the patient can speak and understand English to prevent miscommunication errors. Limited
English proficiency tends to obstruct patient-provider communication, thus serving as a causal
factor to medical errors, including misdiagnosis. It is, therefore, critical to take consideration of
language to provide high-quality care. That calls for having a translator and interpreter who helps
the patient and physician share information and make care decisions.
The economic status of the patient is also essential to consider during interviews. Among
Hispanics, low average income hinders access to timely and quality health services. Hispanics
make up a large number of uninsured persons compared to other racial/ethnic groups in America.
In 2017, about 17 percent of Hispanics did not have insurance covers, while non-Hispanics made
up 5.9 percent (Berchick, Hood & Barnett, 2018). Lack of insurance cover is a hindrance to the
affordability of medical services; thus, most individuals opt for home care. For that reason, the
clinician conducting the interview should consider whether therefore the student is using an
