Healthcare Beliefs in the Hispanic Culture

Hispanic Culture and Beliefs

The Hispanic culture is rich and vibrant, but there are struggles that those outside of the culture may not realize. One of these is with seeking out and receiving healthcare services. Many Hispanic people wait too long to get healthcare. For some, it is because they are not in the United States legally and they fear deportation. However, for the large number of Hispanic people who were born in the U.S. Or who are otherwise in the country legally, it is mainly cultural concerns that keep them from seeking treatment. They are often distrustful of other cultures, and the men in the Hispanic culture are a proud group who believe they can handle issues themselves. Of course, this is a generalization. Not every Hispanic person fits this particular stereotype of their culture. Beliefs about healthcare and the seeking of that care, as well as how they feel about health and illness in general, can lead some Hispanic individuals to avoid care when they really need it.

Spiritual beliefs play a role in that care avoidance, as well. Many Hispanic people are devoutly religious, with a large number of them being Catholic and most of the rest of the population belonging to a Christian denomination of some type. Because of that, some of them practice faith healing and prayer instead of going to the doctor. The belief that God will heal them is not confined to the Hispanic culture, but it is a big part of that culture. Candles are lit and prayers are offered for people who are sick, and many of those people avoid seeing the doctor until the situation is very serious. If they would have sought healthcare sooner, the outcome for many of them would have been better. However, culture is very strong when it comes to how a person lives his or her life. Because many Hispanic people spend most of their time associating with people of their same culture, the beliefs and opinions of that culture when it comes to healthcare and other issues are reinforced.

In addition to the beliefs about healthcare specifically, there are independence and interdependence beliefs in Hispanic culture that can affect whether healthcare is sought. The family unit is very strong within the culture, and that interdependence may stop a member of that family from seeking care for a medical issue. This is amplified if the person with the medical problem must work to support the family, or if he or she has other obligations like taking care of children, younger siblings, or elderly relatives. The desire to care for others and the cultural "requirements" that one does so can preclude any other issues and stop a person who really needs to have a medical problems investigated from seeing the doctor or even visiting a clinic to ask about a condition. Unfortunately, that can result in a poor outcome when the person eventually sees the doctor, because he or she will have allowed the problem to go on for some time. The main healthcare risk for the Hispanic culture is different between males and females, as well. Many Hispanic men die of heart problems and diabetes, while women are more likely to have cancer.