Language and Cultural Literacy in Health Policy Realm

Hispanic Health Policy

As described by the Latino Policy Institute at the Hispanic Health Council website, there are many issue that face Hispanics and Latinos when it comes to health policy and execution. In general, the biggest barriers are cultural and language barriers experienced while giving and providing health care of any sort. However, a problem identified by the aforementioned Institute is that very few of the people that have experienced and seen the barriers feel there is an actual problem that has to be identified and dealt with. Of course, this is less than true and must be recognized for what it truly is. While the language and cultural barriers experiences when giving healthcare are not seen as a problem by many providers, a problem absolutely exists and it is hurting Hispanic patients and citizens every day.

Analysis

To expound and expand on the details of the item mentioned in the introduction of this report, roughly half of all doctors and healthcare providers say that they have experienced cultural and/or language hurdles when it comes to giving care. Whether it be ascertaining symptoms, getting a good description of problems or what have you, there is obviously a cultural and/or language barrier a lot of the time when it comes to Hispanics and their need for good healthcare and solidly executed health policy. However, very few people actually see a problem and that is a little off-putting. Indeed, the amount of people that actually see a problem is only five percent of the population that executes policy. Indeed, that is only one in twenty. That number is deemed to be entirely too low by the people that are gravely concerned about the quality of care and amount of care that Hispanics receive relative to what they need or should be getting (HHC, 2016).

Of course, the major reason for the barrier mentioned above is that more and more people are speaking a language other than English when they are in their home. Of course, this is not limited to Hispanics and those who speak English. Indeed, this would include many people that speak a language other than Spanish or English. Even so, the bulk of the people that are experiencing cultural or language barrier are Hispanic. Even those that have taken Spanish in high school or otherwise at a more basic level run into problems since high school Spanish does not often cover the level of communication and rapport needed to address clinical and medical problems (HHC, 2016). Beyond the above, the patterns and outcomes shown from the passage of legislation in the United States like the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare, are hard to miss. However, it is far from monolithic. Indeed, a little less than two thirds of Latinos voted for expanding coverage even with the higher taxes that would come with it. Nearly another third said that the current system should continue as is. The eleven percent that did not vote for either of the first two were unsure or wanted some other system. In short, the usual pattern of the Latino community favoring Democrat initiatives and programs is seen with their support of the Affordable Care Act (Sanchez, 2012).