90 likes | 215 Views
Latino Health Care. Approaches / Issues and Traditional Healing Arts. United States: Hispanic Population 2000 Census Results. United States: Hispanic Population Latino Healthcare Task Force.
E N D
Latino Health Care Approaches / Issues and Traditional Healing Arts
United States: Hispanic PopulationLatino Healthcare Task Force • “In 2003, Latinos became the largest ethnic minority group in America, surpassing African-Americans and numbering nearly 40 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.” • “By 2004, there were more than 41 million Latinos in the U.S., representing 14.1 percent of the total population [emphasis added].”
Latino Health Care: Related IssuesBarriers to quality healthcare • Lack of English and literacy skills • Cultural differences in communication styles • Personalismo or “formal friendliness”: the Latino patient expects to develop a warm, personal relationship with the clinician • Low-income rates • High cost of healthcare resulting in: • Limited to no insurance coverage • Under-use of preventative services • Limited access to dental care • Limited to no coverage of prescription drugs
Latino Health Care: Related IssuesTraditional healing arts • Roots of Curanderismo: • Greek humoral medicine (ideas of balance; the influence of the hot and cold on the body) • Early Judeo-Christian healing traditions • Europe in the Middle Ages (utilizing Old World medicinal plants) • Magical healing practices from Medieval witchcraft • Moorish influences (folk illnesses such as mal de ojo, homeopathic concepts and common home remedies for conditions such as earaches, burns and stomachaches) • Native American traditions (folk illnesses from pre-Columbian times such as fallen fontanel also known as caída de la mollera) • Extensive pharmacopeia of the New World
Latino Health Care: Related IssuesTraditional healing arts • Three healing practices: • Material approaches to healing (physical and supernatural healing) – nivel material • Spiritual healing and spiritualism – nivel espiritual • Psychic healing – nivel mental
Latino Health Care: Related IssuesUse of curanderismo • Characteristics predicting use of a curandero/a • Age (≤ 39 years) • Bilinguals are more likely • Household income (>20,000) • Low (<10,000) • Middle (10,000-20,000) • High (>20,000) • Education (post-high school) • Elementary school • Middle school • High school • Post-high school
Herbs Crucifixes Holy water Pictures of saints Candles Alters Prayers Eggs Fire Chickens Incense Etc. Latino Health Care: Related IssuesTraditional healing arts • Objects used for ritualistic “cleansings” (limpias o barridas): http://ojinaga.com/martincito.html
References Casey, M.M., Blewett, L.A. and Call, K.T. (2004) Providing health care to Latino immigrants: Community-based efforts in the rural Midwest. American Journal of Public Health,94 (10), 1709-1711. Padilla, R., Gomez, V., Biggerstaff, S.L., and Mehler, P.S. (2001). Use of Curanderismo in a public health care system. Archives of Internal Medicine, 161 (10), 1336-1340. Ramirez, R.R. (2004). We the people: Hispanics in the United States census 2000 special reports. U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Census Bureau. Trotter, R.T. (2001). Curanderismo: A picture of Mexican-American folk healing. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 7 (2), 129-131. Valdez, J. and de Posada, R.G. (2006). Strategies for improving Latino healthcare in America: Report of the Latino healthcare taskforce. http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_hispanicpop.html http://staff.washington.edu/kfreeman/Freeman-STC2002-Latinohealthcom.PDF