Consortium of researchers produce a special issue that examines healthcare disparities affecting minorities

University of California - Los AngelesNov 10 2009

The Latino population is the nation's largest minority group at an estimated 47 million in 2008 and is predicted to make up 30% of the US population by 2050. At the same time, chronic diseases among Latinos are on the rise and require long-range strategies to prevent and clinically manage. Understanding the healthcare of this fastest growing population is critical to the healthcare debate and reform initiatives.

The Network for Multicultural Research on Health and Healthcare, a consortium of researchers from major research institutions around the country, examines healthcare disparities affecting minorities with chronic diseases and has produced a special supplement of the Journal of General Internal Medicine examining Latinos and healthcare, shedding light on important issues that have been left out of the healthcare reform debate.

This issue, Confronting Inequities in Latino Health Care, comprises nine studies examining hypertension, diabetes, health insurance coverage, discrimination, quality of care, spirituality, preventive care, and other topics on Latino health and healthcare.

NEWS FACTS:

• Two thirds of Mexican Americans in the United States do not have a "patient-centered medical home." That means they are less likely to receive regular health care that meets basic standards for adequacy, either preventive or when they get sick, with a resulting reliance on emergency rooms or other high-cost health care to address basic health care needs.
• For Mexican Americans with hypertension, 41% are unaware of their condition and 44% of those treated have uncontrolled hypertension.
• 75% of Mexican American women and 78% of men with hypertension are overweight or obese.
• US Latinos with health insurance are 1.5 times more likely to report having excellent/good health care than their uninsured counterparts. Meanwhile, 60% of Latinos who are not US citizens or are undocumented do not have health insurance.
• Insured Latinos are more likely to be married, to have been born in the US and speak English. They are also more likely to have finished high school, to be older than 35 years of age, and to have income above the federal poverty line.
• Undocumented Latinos, compared to US-born or foreign-born Latinos, have the lowest percentage of health insurance (37% vs 77%, respectively).
• Nearly 70% of Latinos think that spiritual healing is very important in maintaining health and well being.
• US-born Latinos report higher rates of discrimination and lower quality of care than foreign-born Latinos.

"The range of articles presented by our researchers in this special issue will inform the US health policy debate for an all-too-often marginalized population," stated Michael Rodriguez, MD, guest editor of the supplement and co-director of the Network for Multicultural Research on Heath and Healthcare at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine.

"Our research brings to light many quality of care issues for Latinos navigating today's healthcare system," said guest editor William Vega, PhD, co-director of the Network for Multicultural Research on Heath and Healthcare at UCLA. "The special needs of Latinos, whether US-born, foreign-born or undocumented, are too often left out of the healthcare reform discussion. Where and under what conditions will Latinos receive adequate medical care if they are not permitted to participate in new insurance programs?"