Posted on 08/13/2008 6:18:19 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
Although Andres Ramirez didn’t visit the doctor very often when he lived in Mexico, he now goes to the Chattanooga Homeless Health Care Clinic at least once every three months to treat his diabetes.
“Part of it is our culture,” said the 35-year-old, who has lived in the United States for 14 years. “We are not used to going to the doctor unless we feel very sick.
“As Hispanics, we don’t go to the doctor regularly because most of the time we come here to work and we say we don’t have time for the doctor,” he said. “Which shouldn’t be the case. We need to take care of ourselves more.”
Twenty-seven percent of Hispanic adults in the United States — 30 percent in the South — lack a regular health care provider, according to a report released today by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Similar to the general U.S. population, Hispanic males, the young and the less educated are less likely to have primary health care providers, according to the report, “Hispanics and Health Care in the United States: Access, Information and Knowledge.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously reported that, compared to other groups, Hispanics are twice as likely as non-Hispanic blacks and three times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to lack regular health care providers.
“When it comes to Latinos, what may appear to be the well-known effects of socioeconomic inequality on health care may also be conditioned by unique social, cultural and economic circumstances confronting both Hispanic immigrants and Hispanics born in the United States,” the report said.
The Hispanic population in the United States has more than doubled in the past 15 years and is now estimated to have reached 45 million, said Debra Perez, senior program officer for the New Jersey-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an organization whose stated goal is to improve American health care.
“If we are going to design effective public health approaches in the future, it’s critical that we understand how Hispanics use health resources and where they turn for health information they trust,” she said.
About 41 percent of those surveyed who lack a regular health care provider said the principal reason is because “they are seldom sick.”
The hardest part is to get Hispanics to go to the doctor for the first time, said Sylvia Rangel, a community health worker who works with the Hispanic population in Chattanooga.
“Once they go and find a place they like, they generally continue to go,” she said.
Rogelina Garcia, a native of Mexico, said she doesn’t go to the doctor as often because of the language barrier and lack of money.
“Back in Mexico I would go often because the doctors spoke my language,” she said, speaking in Spanish. “Here, sometimes there’s not an interpreter available, and it is hard to explain what’s wrong.
“There’s also the factor of health insurance. It’s really expensive to go to the doctor and, if you don’t even have a job, how are you going to pay for medical care?” she asked.
About 42 percent of the Latinos who don’t have health insurance lack a usual health care provider, compared with 19 percent of the insured, the survey found.
Angela Mejias, certified nurse practitioner with the Southside and Dodson Avenue Community Health Centers, affiliates of the Erlanger health system, said immigration status also affects whether a person goes to the doctor.
“For the most part, if they are illegal immigrants, because of fear of immigration (authorities) they tend not to seek medical health,” she said. “They use home remedies (first).”
Although the number of Hispanic patients is increasing locally, the access to care for Hispanics continues to be limited, said Karen Guinn, primary care program manager with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department.
“What we know is that access to care for Hispanics is often minimal because all of our Hispanic clients are uninsured, so it can be difficult to pay for care,” she said.
Ms. Mejias said there’s a need for health care providers to reach out to the Hispanic community.
“Some of the Hispanic patients I’ve seen haven’t seen a medical provider for years, a lot of them since they left their country,” she said.
_______________________________________________
And this is the fault of whom ???????
They can go back and enjoy Mexican healthcare.
ER PING
BS they have ANY ER USA
4 seconds?
...and in other news, it’s no fun being an illegal alien. Where is Genesis when you need them?
Get 'em out by Friday?
Funny, that's part of our culture, too!..........
“Part of it is our culture,” said the 35-year-old, who has lived in the United States for 14 years. “We are not used to going to the doctor unless we feel very sick.
I was refering to the British band Genesis. They did a wonderful song titled “Illegal Alien.” Many times during the song they sung, “It’s no fun being an illegal alien.”
i really doubt that.
the county health offices in california are filled with mexicans.
Once they find out it's free to them, of course. Then they become addicted to our paying their health care costs.
No doubt the folks “down home” understand the special linguistically mediated healthcare needs of Hispanics.
:)
Like I said. Who pays the bills?
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
They don't have enough doctors to go around. The need for more specialists is particularly bad, but there aren't enough generalists either. Most family practice doctors there simply can't take on more patients. That means that a lot of Canadians just go to the clinic (similar to our urgent care) whenever they need to see a doctor.
Because they don't see the same doctor regularly, it is difficult for them to get good treatment for a lot of chronic illnesses, especially when the dosage of medication needs to be monitored to make sure it is effective but to limit side effects.
Their health care is even "free", but it's hard to get good health care when there aren't enough doctors.
What a disaster—sarc. My Dad, My in-laws never had a smidgen of healthcare insurance their entire lives. I recall my father visiting a doctor once in 40 years to have a basal-cell carcinoma removed from his check—he was in and out after a local block and a couple of sutures which he removed himself 10 days later. His next visit was when he was 78 and suffered a urinary obstruction.
This so-called healthcare crisis has been manufactured by politicians hungry to take over the nations #2 industry in order to capture more power and feed the lawyers.
What this also means is that 73% of Hispanics DO have a health-care provider, and you're paying for it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.