Culture is an essential rudiment of established patterns of ethics, principles, customs, behaviors, and practices shared by a group of individuals. More so, it is an underpinning through which individuals fathom the significance of their health conditions and comprehend the available diagnostic alternatives for treatment and diagnostic modalities (Hernandez & Gibb, 2020). Every culture is influenced by various cultural facets ranging from social, economic, educational, religious beliefs, language, dietary habits, traditional healing, family composition, and ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, healthcare providers must comprehend the impact of diverse cultural dimensions in healthcare to deliver patient-centric and culturally competent care across the continuum (Hernandez & Gibb, 2020). Additionally, provider-patient liaison centers on communication, which contends with augmented health outcomes. Provider-patient communication, especially when a patient is from a distinct cultural background, is an intricate process that necessitates the clinician to be cognizant of the disparate barriers and effective strategies they can employ to build a rapport (Ogbogu et al., 2022). In this light, the paper will delve into the Latin American culture and explore communication barriers and the most effective cross-cultural communication strategies for patients from diverse cultural groups.
The Latin American Cultural Group
In the U.S., Latinas/Latinos are people of Latin or Hispanic-American descent who comprise approximately 18.5% of the nation’s population. It is worth noting that the non-gendered term used to describe this population is Latinx (Escobedo et al., 2023). Latin America encompasses a copious and diverse cultural identity that is contingent on a gamut of African as well as European traditions and the rich customs of the Indigenous populations. Fortuna (2024), postulates that the Latinx are a multicultural and multiracial group including indigenous individuals who speak their native language. Notably, Spanish is the primary language spoken across Latin America, albeit not all Latinx, communicate in Spanish.
The most common populations among Latin Americans include Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Salvadorans, and Cubans. (Fortuna, 2024). In particular, Latin American cultures and customs are profoundly entrenched in religion, specifically Catholicism. The local traditions embedded in the Latin American culture are tango coupled with samba dancing techniques and substantial literary contributions (Fortuna, 2024). Besides, numerous facets denote the Hispanic-American culture including personalismo which relates to individual affinity in interpersonal relations. Additional aspects that distinguish Latino culture are a deep respect for authority and collectivism which accentuates family orientation. Latinos grapple with high morbidity and mortality rates due to the cumulative acculturation into American culture and health disparities elucidated by alterations in social determinants of health (Fortuna, 2024).
Latinos’ Social Determinants of Health
Social determinants of health (SDOH) involve societal circumstances that shape people’s experiences of birth, residence, and aging (McDaniel, Padilla & Parra-Medina, 2021). Some of the SDOHs are social and economic conditions which affect individual health-associated behaviors such as income, neighborhood safety, access to affordable healthcare services, gender, and education. More so, acculturation, language, immigration eminence, generational rank and national origin are fundamental SDOHs of Latinos. Social determinants of health can be linked to the intricate interaction between individuals and related aspects that contribute to conventional health behaviors (McDaniel, Padilla & Parra-Medina, 2021). It is noteworthy to acknowledge that occupation, employment, and food insecurity concomitant with poverty are pervasive social determinants of health that give rise to numerous health inequities.
Factors Affecting Patient-Provider Communication among Latinos
Significantly, various factors akin to social determinants of health can impact the communication between patients and healthcare providers for Latinas including access to care and socioeconomic status. Primarily, the socioeconomic status of Latinos is manifested in personal and familial income, educational attainment, poverty rates, and occupational status behaviors (McDaniel, Padilla & Parra-Medina, 2021). Lower socioeconomic status tends to correlate with unhealthy behaviors or lifestyles among Latinas. Consequently, access to care refers to the extent to which individuals and groups can efficiently obtain suitable healthcare from the medical system. Per se, Latin Americans face challenges in accessing health services due to diverse reasons, including financial barriers, structural impediments, and personal obstacles to care. Financial barriers encompass a lack of health insurance coverage and limited personal income. While a significant number of Latinas may have insurance, they often forego using the insurance because of cultural discrepancies, concerns about deportation, language obstructions, and healthcare mistrust behaviors (McDaniel, Padilla & Parra-Medina, 2021). On the other hand, structural barriers involve organizational hurdles in healthcare delivery, inadequate geographic proximity to providers, and the paucity of transportation to and from healthcare facilities.
A substantial portion of Latino patients encounter challenges in medical settings due to language barriers due to their limited English proficiency (Escobedo et al., 2023). The significance of language becomes particularly pronounced when Spanish-speaking patients interact with healthcare providers who do not speak Spanish and lack access to professional interpreters. Since effective patient-provider communication is integral to the healthcare delivery process, inadequate communication arising from language barriers carries implications for the quality and outcomes of care. For instance, subpar patient-provider communication may lead to unwarranted medical testing in an attempt to establish a diagnosis without sufficient medical history (Escobedo et al., 2023). In cases where Spanish-speaking patients receive unclear instructions about prescribed medications, there is a risk of inappropriate usage, resulting in suboptimal treatment, irrespective of the technical appropriateness of the prescriptions. As a result, the patients may mistrust the healthcare providers.
Additionally, cultural distinctions between Latinas and the United States deeply affect healthcare experiences and patient-provider communication, especially when Latinas seek healthcare services(Escobedo et al., 2023). For one, clinicians who are not cognizant of Latin American culture may tend to overlook the essence of families when making treatment or discharge plans. Furthermore, Latinx patients may experience cross-cultural miscommunication whereby they may misinterpret healthcare providers’ detached professional conduct as a lack of interest or perceive them as superstitious. In this light, the cultural variances may enhance the patients’ mistrust towards the healthcare providers, hindering effective and efficient patient-provider communication (Escobedo et al., 2023). Based on the numerous factors affecting patient-provider communication and Latinx, healthcare providers need to implement effective cross-cultural communication strategies to deliver top-tier patient care and improve communication.
Effective Cross-Communication Strategies for Latin American Cultural Group
One of the prerequisites for effective patient-provider communication is modifying healthcare systems and providers’ practices that adversely affect Latinx patient experience, trust and satisfaction (Escobedo et al., 2023). As such, this may be achieved by enhancing communication techniques to ensure that the patients receive culturally competent and congruent care. In this context, training healthcare providers in cultural and linguistic fluency is a pragmatic strategy that can improve patient-provider communication. Per se, training clinicians can upsurge the capacity for empathetic language strategies and as a result, enhance patient comfort and communication (Kelson et al., 2022). Remarkably, employing professional interpretation healthcare services can positively influence patient-provider communication and lead to optimal patient outcomes.
Per se, this strategy is essential because it helps remove the communication discordance that may arise and the frustration Latinx patients may experience (Escobedo et al., 2023). Most importantly, developing education standards and fluency evaluations are impeccable strategies that can guarantee that Latin American patients with limited English proficiency receive equitable healthcare. It is integral for healthcare organizations to introduce scheduling changes, allowing longer hospital visits for Latino patients who are not fluent in English.
References
Escobedo, L. E., Cervantes, L., & Havranek, E. (2023). Barriers in Healthcare for Latinx Patients with Limited English Proficiency—A Narrative Review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 38(5), 1264-1271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-022-07995-3
Fortuna, L. (2024). Working with Latino/a and Hispanic Patients. American Psychiatric Association. https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/best-practice-highlights/working-with-latino-patients
Hernandez, M., & Gibb, J. K. (2020). Culture, behavior and health. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, 2020(1), 12-13. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoz036
Kelson, M., Nguyen, A., Chaudhry, A., & Roth, P. (2022). Improving Patient Satisfaction in the Hispanic American Community. Cureus, 14(8), e27739. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.27739
McDaniel, M., Padilla, A. M., & Parra-Medina, D. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on Latinos: A social determinants of health model and scoping review of the literature. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/07399863211041214
Ogbogu, P. U., Noroski, L. M., Arcoleo, K., & Apter, A. J. (2022). Methods for cross-cultural communication in clinic encounters. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. in Practice, 10(4), 893-900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2022.01.010
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