America’s medical care system is already a tough code to crack. Pero para Latinos, the issue is even more significant. From an inability to access insurance or the high cost of an appointment, and even language based barriers, there are countless reasons behind Latinos not recieving healthcare. Today we’ll unpack a few of the reasons behind how to improve healthcare access para nuestra communidad.
Will Insurance or Your Wallet Make it Rain?
When insurance isn’t available, wallets have to be whipped out to cross the threshold of the doctor’s office; an action no one ever looks forward to.
According to Statistica.com, 20.9% of Latinos do not have access to insurance.
That means that 20.9% of Latinos don’t have access to basic preventative healthcare, including annual physical or dental appointments. This lack of preventative healthcare can lead to minor and undiagnosed health issues worsening over time.
Not to mention when insurance is accessible, insurance premiums can cost upwards of $7,000 for a single individual. An annual $7,000 cost makes it challenging to afford medical services and regular check-ups.
It’s essential to explore ideas and policies to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, to ensure everyone can receive the necessary medical attention they deserve.
Listening and Understanding
Language barriers pose a major challenge in the realm of healthcare. When two people don’t speak the same language, this causes a gap in communication and ability to understand medical information.
Here are three crucial statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau:
- Less than 10% of all healthcare workers are Hispanic
- Only 6% of physicians identify as Hispanic
- 2% of non-Hispanic physicians are Spanish-speaking
As you can imagine, all this can lead to misunderstandings, resulting in subpar care. In cases where language isn’t an issue for Latinos recieving healthcare, we still run the risk of healthcare providers not taking symptoms seriously.
A Pew Research Study reported that 32% of Hispanic adults shared healthcare providers did not take their pain seriously in recent or past experiences.
So what does all this mean? Well to start, it’s crucial to have medical professionals and staff who can at a minimum speak Spanish to bridge the communication gap. Current healthcare workers have underlying biases causing inadequate healthcare being provided when language isn’t a barrier.
Most of all, this all means that we have to make young Latino boys and girls dreams of becoming doctors, nurses come true.
Making young chamas y chamos healthcare workers doesn’t happen overnight though. We need to provide resources they can rely on sooner than later. Look no further than Latinx En Medicina, an organization whose purpose is to inform la communidad on all things health through digital media.
Spreading Awareness
We can all play a role in spreading awareness about available healthcare resources and promoting ways to stay healthy. By sharing this information with our amigos/as and taking the time to learn about la cultura, we can create a supportive environment where seeking medical assistance isn’t a code to crack.
Being allies in breaking down barriers to healthcare access and advocating for quality medical care for all is essential. Our commitment to celebrating diversity and inclusion can extend to making a positive impact by supporting healthcare accessibility for everyone, regardless of their background.
