Hispanics and Mental Issues Research Paper

Mental Health Issues in Hispanic Community

The Hispanic community comprises of one of the fastest growing ethnic/racial groups within the United States. According to census results of 2000, the number of Hispanics in the United States has increased by about 60% over the last decade. This is from 23 back in 1990 to 35.5 million in 2000. In March 2002, the number of Hispanics in United States was 37.4 million. Hispanic population in the United States in 44 million now this is about 14% of the U.S. population. Nearly 805 of all the Hispanics in the U.S. are either immigrants or children of immigrants. It is expected that by 2050, the Hispanic population will be 108 million and about a quarter of the population in United States.

Sociocultural and historical factors suggest that the Hispanic community needs mental health services greatly. Hispanics in general have low economic and education status. The Hispanic population is at risk of mental health problems due to drug use, stress and other factors. However, the Hispanics lack access to mental health care. There are several factors that affect mental health in Hispanic community in the U.S. these factors are barriers to accessing care among the Hispanics with mental health problems ( Rodriguez, 2013). One of the problems is lack of insurance; medical insurance is among the most important determinants of the access to healthcare. Hispanics adults below the age of 65 are more likely to be uninsured compared to white adults. The rate of non-insurance is particularly high among the immigrants who are not documented. Hispanics are also less likely compared to non-Hispanics to receive healthcare insurance as a benefit from their employers.Healthcare insurance usually reduces the out of pocket cost of healthcare and it has ben proven as the single mot important predictor of utilization. Without healthcare insurance many people find healthcare unaffordable and do not seek health acre even when they know they need it (Escarce, & Kapur, 2008).

Another factor is language barriers whereby the Hispanics have limited proficiency in English which affects the ability of the Hispanics to seek and even obtain healthcare. This is because the language barrier reduces the access to health information in the media. Language becomes particularly critical when Hispanic patients encounter physicians that do not speak Spanish and there are no professional interpreters available. Communication is central to the healthcare delivery process and hence it has a profound effect on the quality as well as the outcome of the care and also impacts the relationship between the patient and provider. This language barrier can lead to excessive ordering of medical tests or even inappropriate tests in an attempt to get a diagnosis since there is no adequate medical history provided. The Hispanic patients who get unclear explanations regarding taking the medicine they have been prescribed may end up taking them inappropriately. Which leads to suboptimal treatment regardless of whether these prescriptions were technically appropriate or not. There is also a decrease in use of primary care, an increased use of the emergency department and an inadequate follow-up.

Yet another factor is lack of Hispanic healthcare providers. For instance in California, the communities that have a high proportion of Hispanic residents is four times more likely than communities that have a high proportion of.....