3/FEB/2021

LATINO PATIENT CH 4: Communicating Effectively with the Latino Patient

 Risk Factors
o Alcohol and tobacco – men often drink more heavily after immigrating
but smoke less; a higher percentage of second-generation Hispanic
women drink compared with first generation Hispanic women
o Nutritional habits and lack of exercise – first-generation Latinos are more
likely to eat a less-processed diet, especially if they have just arrived to
the U.S.; food price, availability, and presence of food deserts are major
factors in diet
 Conveying Health Messages Successfully
o Familism: patients may value making healthy choices in the perspective
that they are the providers for their family and need to be healthy to
provide, or that they are role models in their family
o Friends: peer pressure can play an important part in creating healthy or
harmful habits
o Faith: religious beliefs are often inextricable from health awareness;
religious arguments for or against a cure for an illness or a new health
regimen to prevent certain diseases could have perfectly legitimate
religious links
o Fatalism: one of the most unhelpful values that often works against
healthcare providers – the belief that what will be, will be and that fate is
not something that an individual person can control

12/FEB/2021
LATINO PATIENT CH 5: Achieving Cultural Competence with the Latino Patient
 Culture Competence steps:
o Cultural awareness – requires a person becoming aware of one’s own
culture and that of the Latino patient
o Cultural knowledge – having access to and studying information about
the health status of Latinos and their cultural values
 o Cultural skills – a consequence of reflecting about cultural awareness and
of gaining knowledge about the Latin culture; the most valuable of this
tenet is practicing what has been learned
o Inductive learning – frequent clinical interaction with Latin patients will
reinforce skill development and, if done well, can lead to a greater
understanding of the culture
 Dos and Don’ts:
o DO: expect a patient to have a definition of health that could be a
combination of different cultures; DO understand that God and the
family lie at the center of the patient’s life
o DON’T: smile when a patient is discussing health beliefs for caution of
appearing to lack respect; DON’T ask the patient to explain or support
their beliefs, as this shows that the provider may be doubting the patient