According to the American Diabetes
Association (ADA), “Diabetes is an urgent health problem in the Hispanic
community, with 12.8 percent of the Hispanic population living with diagnosed
diabetes in the U.S.” The ADA believes that getting information to the
Latino/Hispanic community about the seriousness of diabetes and providing
resources to help manage the disease is essential. Its evident that the
Hispanic community lacks knowledge on the disease; disparities, risk factor and
the severity if left untreated. Other reasons that contribute to this health
problem is that there aren’t many Spanish resources, or healthcare providers
that are fluent in Spanish and/or lack the knowledge of Spanish, Central, and
South Americans beliefs, traditions and culture. I agree with the ADA that it is
essential that Hispanic community be educated on the severity on this pressing
issue among the Hispanic community. And I commend there effort in doing so,
however, as a nurse and nursing student and daughter whose mother has type II
diabetes since 1996, over the years I have seen first hand that there aren’t
many Spanish resources available. Especially during the late 90s and there
still is very scarce to non-existent Spanish resources when it comes to type II
diabetes. For example, on HKU there is no printed information on type II
diabetes either in English or Spanish. I think since HKU is a specialized unit,
our educators have not put much importance on other systems/diseases. I think that
as a unit with a huge Hispanic patient population, we should have more
resources in Spanish, such as pamphlets and healthcare providers that are
fluent in Spanish. With that being said, I think that CNMC should also hire,
more Hispanic nurses, fluent in Spanish. I also think that the ADA, American
Nursing Association (ANA) and Nursing schools should promote nursing more among
Hispanics through their websites and functions, in order to better serve the
growing Hispanic population.
How do you think the
ADA should approach this matter, how should they reach out to the Hispanic
community and educate them on the severity on type II diabetes?
What suggestions would you give the ADA?
Do you think there is
enough Hispanic nurses in Nursing and do you think that a Hispanic nurse would
make a difference in a Hispanic patients care/learning process?
Article resource:
http://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2014/american-diabetes-association-celebrates-hispanic-heritage-month.html
I never knew that the Hispanic community had such an issue with diabetes. I have to wonder if this is an economic issue-with poor quality food being cheaper, or a change in diet from one’s home country. I am not surprised at the lack of Spanish resources, and am upset at the fact that this issue is so easily repairable. I really enjoyed the embedded infographic, and your own personal stories. It added to the argument you were making, and kept my attention. Ending the post with a question is a tactic I think I will be borrowing as well- it certainly fosters the comment making process.
ReplyDeleteKevin, lets face it... minorities make up the lower bracket of the American economy. Thus, Hispanics suffer with diabetes due to they're poor economics. According to Enrique Caballero, MD, in the peer-reviewed article, "Diabetes in the Hispanic or Latino population: Genes, environment, culture, and more" states that Hispanics usually suffer from higher rates of Diabetes Type II than other minorities. His reasons are due to poor nutrition, physical activity, and increased genetic predisposition to Diabetes Type II. It is evident that multiple medical, cultural, and socioeconomic factors influence the development of diabetes, its course, and possible consequences.
DeleteThank you for your response, I am glad that I was able to intrigue you with my topic and that you liked my blog so far!
To spread awareness about this matter, I think more Hispanic people can be hired by ADA to work on this. This is because they will have better understanding of the culture and will be able to approach Hispanic Community more effectively. They will be able to reach these communities at various places – such as at community festivals, teen centers, schools and work places with high Hispanic Community. Moreover, I believe that if the young (Hispanic and other ethnicities) generation is educated about this matter at schools (who would know English or will be in process of learning) then, they can guide their elders at home. These children can act as a messengers for spreading the word.
ReplyDeleteLalah, I agree, I think that the ADA should hire more hispanics in order to fill in the gaps and to spread awareness. However, I also think that the hispanic nurses like myself and the American Nursing Association should advertise nursing as a career within the hispanic youth. So that there are more hispanic nurses for generations to come so that language isn't a barrier and that health epidemics within in the hispanic community are not caused due to lack of resources. Thank you for your response!
DeleteI agree with Lalah that more Hispanic people could be hired by ADA. I also think that community clinics should hire more Spanish speaking workers to help with this language barrier. I worked at a free clinic in Seven Corners where the majority of patients where Hispanic, not only was language a barrier between patients and the health care providers, but the patients also lacked resources. Some Hispanics have been in the US for generations, while others are first or second generation but have yet to learn the system. I believe that having more funding for clinics that reach out a lot of this population would be beneficial. Additionally, just raising awareness and letting this population know that they are especially at risk. Certain populations are at risk for specific diseases, such as African Americans and hypertension. It is important for populations to know what they are at risk for so they can implement preventative measures.
ReplyDeleteKarine, I agree more funding would be very beneficial for this issue but also spreading awareness is key. The question who would help fund such a need/the Hispanic community to get the help/resources they need? Thank you for your response!
DeleteNice Post! I believe that for spreading the awareness we should educate people about this matter. Organize events, workshops, and festivals for providing information about this to people. As others mentioned that language could be the barrier in spreading the information to people about this matter then I also agree that we should hire Spanish speakers. Moreover, social media could be the good source for raising the awareness to people.
ReplyDeleteSarah, good point, social media can be another outlet to spread awareness. Thanks for your response!
DeleteIn order to spread awareness on this issue, maybe the ADA could air PSA's on Spanish-speaking TV channels. Providing doctor's offices with information printed in Spanish might be helpful as well. Ensuring that young students are aware of their risk factors could be especially useful, since it could prevent them from ever being at risk for diabetes, and they could educate their families too.
ReplyDeleteI agree, spreading awareness is key for there to be change within this community. Ideally I think the more funding this community receives the better there off. However, the big issue is that our healthcare system does not have enough funding. Thank you for your response!
DeleteHi Wendy, nice post. It's obvious you care greatly about the plight of people who are less fortunate than the average Americans. I come from a fairly unhealthy family, where diabetes is somewhat rampant, so I totally understand the concern. So much so that I'm pretty psychotic about what I eat, and I tend to exercise quite a bit (despite hating it) -- so I live and breathe this stuff.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question, I think mandating diabetes education and prevention as part of the ACA (Obamacare) would be a decent first step. Not only is it a massive health risk for Latinos, to say nothing of a large number of Americans, but it's also a great reason why our health care costs are so high. People in poor health, many of whom don't have insurance, crash our ERs all the time. I don't have the statistics, but knowing diabetics, I'm sure many of them are part of the ER epidemic when they have spikes and crashes in blood sugar. The federal government (rightly) foots the bill when these people can't pay for the ER. If the government encouraged people to live healthier lives via tax incentives, not only good it help the Latino population with this problem -- it could also save the United States millions a year in expenses.
Keep up the good fight!
I agree, the hispanic community definitely is a great reason why our health care costs are so high. I think that the government should also have incentives for people wanting to get fit and healthy. Like always say if I got paid to look that good then who wouldn't?! Thanks for your response.
DeleteWhether there are enough Hispanic nurses or not s a question a cannot seem to come up with an answer. There are many nurses however not everyone has the same interests. As for whether they would make a difference in the care received by their patients is debatable. I believe it is debatable because not everyone is the same. Everyone has there own personalities where the way they are themselves is what would determine that. I do not think because a nurse is Hispanic it would have to do with how she or he would treat her patients. That might just be adding to the stereotype.
ReplyDeleteThis was very informative. I did not realize that diabetes is such a huge burden among the hispanic population. It is so great of you to take steps to help reduce the prevalence. Every bit counts! And to answer your question, yes, I do think that an increase in hispanic nurses and health care providers would help reduce the prevalence of diabetes among the hispanic population. Having someone they can relate to, speak the same language, and increase the level of understanding and comfort truly goes a long way in communicating and establishing a relationship with patients.
ReplyDelete