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Hispanics or Latinos are persons
of Spanish or Latin American descent, including Mexicans, Puerto Ricans,
Cubans, South and Central-Americans, and many other Spanish-speaking
cultures around the world.
Mexican Americans represent the largest
Hispanic American subgroup, comprising 64% of the Hispanic population
(US Census Bureau, 1996). The majority of Mexican Americans live in
the south-central and southwestern United States. Only California, New
Mexico, and Texas exceed Arizona in the number of Mexican Americans
by state population.
Health Issues
As a group, Mexican Americans have
disproportionately higher rates of certain chronic conditions. Diabetes,
for instance, is twice as common in Mexican Americans as in Anglo-Americans
(NDIC, 2002) and is medically more severe among Mexican Americans
(Harris et al., 1998). High rates of obesity and sedentary living
among Mexican Americans contribute to the problem.
While a variety of factors, including
education and socioeconomic status, play a role in how Mexican Americans
address their health issues, religious beliefs have also played a crucial
role. In an age of high-tech, highly specialized medicine, the ancient
folk practices, such as Curanderismo, are important cultural considerations
in Latino health care.
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Religious beliefs and spirituality
play important roles in the health care of Hispanic groups in the United
States (Castro et al., 1984; Keegan, 2000). Studies indicate that a
large number of Mexican Americans believe their health problems may
be a result of God’s will, or they may not have the resources
for conventional care and turn only to traditional healers, such as
Curanderos, or herbal remedies to treat their ailments.
Curanderos use herbs, aromas, and
rituals to treat the ills of the body, mind and spirit. Their ceremonial
approach to healing spans centuries. However, for certain chronic conditions,
herbal remedies and rituals may not be sufficient, and the use of herbal
remedies may present some risks. Many diabetic Mexican
Americans, for instance, need insulin to survive.
Still, because
of a cultural distrust of medicines that are not natural, they may decline
the treatment (Harris, 2001), choosing traditional folk remedies instead. A cultural distrust of medicines that are not “natural”
(Harris, 2001) may lead to self-treatment with folk remedies that can
worsen their health conditions. |
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For more information on Latino culture and
health, visit our community and academic Resource
Center.
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