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Cultural Competency in Health Care
• Why Language Barriers
• Why Latinos?
• Study on Language Barriers
• Oregon's Diversity
PowerPoint Presentation
• Oregon Hispanic Workforce Report

Health Status

Health care providers currently face the overwhelming challenge of meeting the cultural and language needs of wide array of subpopulations. In focusing on Latinos, it is the intention of this project to concentrate research on a group whose growing numerical significance in the United States is undeniable. Over the last ten years, the Latino population in the United States has grown 58% to reach over 35 million, with Latinos representing one in eight of all Americans.1 The potential language barriers faced by Latino populations are also significant. The Census 2000 Supplementary Survey estimates that over 44 million Americans over the age of 5 speak a language other than English at home, and that for 62% of those 44 million, that language spoken in the home is Spanish.
In addition to their high growth and relative need of language services, working with Latinos-because of the wide variety of their countries of origin-offers a unique opportunity for insights into the interplay of culture and language in the health care setting. By specifically addressing language, we hope to learn more about what is needed for providers to effectively ensure equal access to health services for NEP and LEP populations.

Population

According to the 2000 Census, the Hispanic population in the United States is 39.1 million. This number can be broken down into subgroups as follows:

• Mexican: 20.6 million
• Puerto Rican (living in the domestic U.S.): 3.4 million
• Puerto Rican (living in Puerto Rico): 3.8 million
• Cuban: 1.2 million
• Dominican: 765,000
• Other: 10 million
• Spaniard: 100,000
• Central American: 1.7 million
  • Salvadoran: 655,000
  • Guatemalan: 372,000
  • Honduran: 218,000
  • Nicaraguan: 178, 000
  • Panamanian: 92, 000
  • Costa Rican: 69,000
  • Other: 104,000
• South American: 1.4 million
  • Colombian: 471,000
  • Ecuadorian: 261,000
  • Peruvian: 234,000
  • Argentinean: 101,000
  • Venezuelan: 92,000
  • Chilean: 69,000
  • Bolivian: 42,000
  • Uruguayan: 19,000
  • Paraguayan: 9,000
  • Other: 58,000

Though the Latino population resides throughout the United States, knowing where its largest concentrations and most significant areas of growth are can help us understand where the language barriers issue may be most pressing. Some statistics:

43.5% of Hispanics live in the West

32.8% of Hispanics live in the South

14.9% of Hispanics live in the Northeast

8.9% of Hispanics live in the Midwest

4.2 million Hispanics live in Los Angeles County

42.1% of the total state population of New Mexico is Hispanic (the highest proportion for any state).²

Use this map on the Hablamos Juntos website to find the Latino population growth for your county between 1990 - 2000.

Health Status

The health status of Latinos in the United States is complex, comprised by a population that experiences a variety of both health risks and unique protective factors.

According to a report published by the President's Initiative on Race in 1998³, the following are some facts about Latino health status:

• Health status of younger groups of Hispanics may be declining.
• Hispanics (along with American Indians) face higher than average homicide rates.
• HIV kills black and Hispanic young adults at significantly higher rates than non-Hispanic whites, Asians or American Indians.
• Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to have disabilities and chronic disease than white elderly persons, but to some extent these differences are explained by differences in socioeconomic status.
• Hispanics are less likely to have health insurance than non-Hispanic whites.
• Hispanic infant mortality rates are equivalent to those of non-Hispanic whites, despite lower socioeconomic status of Hispanics.
• Hispanics have lower death rates than non-Hispanic whites for cancer and heart disease.

Given the demographic complexity of the Latino population in the United States, data has also been collected about the health status of Hispanic origin subgroups. According to a report published by the National Center for Health Statistics in February of 2000¹²:

• Cubans report better health than other Hispanic origin subgroups (which included Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Other Hispanic).
• A larger percent of Puerto Ricans as compared with other Hispanic subgroups reported seeing a physician within the past year.
• Cuban individuals reported fewer days lost from school and/or work than the other three Hispanic origin subgroups.
• A higher percentage of Puerto Ricans had one or more hospital stay in the past year than other Hispanic origin subgroups.
• A greater percentage of Puerto Rican women considered themselves "current smokers" at the time of the study, than did members of other Hispanic origin subgroups.
• Cuban individuals reported having a higher level of knowledge about AIDS than members of other subgroups.

1. National Council of La Raza Press Release. July 16, 2001, "Census Results Point to an "AmericanAgenda" to Help Ensure Positive Future for Hispanics and the Nation."
2. The Hispanic Population. Census 2000 Brief.
3. Council of Economic Advisors for the President's Initiative on Race. "Changing America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being by Race and Hispanic Origin." 1998 http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/ca
4. Hajat A, Luca JB, Kington R. Health outcomes among Hispanic subgroups: United States, 1992-95. Advance data from vital and health statistics; no. 310. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics, 2000.

The preceeding information has been developed by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Hablamos Juntos Program. It is also available on their website at www.hablamosjuntos.org. The RWJ Hablamos Juntos Program is located at the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute at Claremont College in Claremont, CA.