2008 Woodie Awards
Duke puts renewed focus on Hispanic health care
By: Kristen Davis
Issue date: 4/11/07 Section: News
Last update: 4/11/07 at 8:15 PM EST
Last update: 4/11/07 at 8:15 PM EST
"One of the most important lessons in class was discussing the variability of backgrounds that come from the Spanish-speaking world," said Peter McCary, a senior in the class.
Paredes, who has taught the course in the past, said it strives to break down stereotypes of Hispanics by emphasizing the heterogeneity of the population in origin, access to resources and education.
For example, Paredes said, Hispanics who originate from rural areas in their native countries typically look for religious explanations for health and have less access to modern health care than people from urban areas.
Hispanic immigrants also often have difficulty navigating the U.S. health system because Mexico, Guatemala and many other Hispanic countries have social services for medical care, Paredes said. As a result, they are accustomed to having access to health care regardless of financial status.
She added that Hispanic people usually maintain a more distant relationship with their doctors than Americans do. Paredes said they do not ask many questions about their medical care, so they sometimes lack necessary information.
One of the stereotypes Paredes said the class tries to overcome is the idea that a large portion of Hispanics have alcohol problems of some sort. "People come here and don't have a social support network, so they try to enhance the network they have through alcohol," she said. "But that doesn't mean that all Latinos' families are drinking on the weekends."
McCary, who shadowed a professional medical interpreter at DUMC, said he realized the importance of learning about culture in addition to the language.
"Language proficiency is not enough," he said. "[Medical interpreters] have to have cultural proficiency as well as medical [vocabulary] proficiency."
Because Spanish for Health Professions is a gateway service-learning course, students must propose a research question related to problems they witness in their service sites. They may or may not pursue their research question in a later course.
Shalini Dave, a senior, volunteered by handing out pamphlets about diabetes prevention at El Centro Hispano while enrolled in the course. She said she decided to pursue her research further with an independent study course the following summer by developing the pamphlets to better communicate the information.
"I began to use Hispanic foods in the food pyramid," Dave said.
Blue said she appreciates Duke students' efforts to promote healthy habits in Durham's Hispanic population and thinks the community feels the same way.
"[Duke students] are a tremendous help. It is wonderful to have university students supporting the Latino community, and the community feels very appreciative to have students from a respected university learning Spanish and participating in a grassroots organization," she said.
Paredes, who has taught the course in the past, said it strives to break down stereotypes of Hispanics by emphasizing the heterogeneity of the population in origin, access to resources and education.
For example, Paredes said, Hispanics who originate from rural areas in their native countries typically look for religious explanations for health and have less access to modern health care than people from urban areas.
Hispanic immigrants also often have difficulty navigating the U.S. health system because Mexico, Guatemala and many other Hispanic countries have social services for medical care, Paredes said. As a result, they are accustomed to having access to health care regardless of financial status.
She added that Hispanic people usually maintain a more distant relationship with their doctors than Americans do. Paredes said they do not ask many questions about their medical care, so they sometimes lack necessary information.
One of the stereotypes Paredes said the class tries to overcome is the idea that a large portion of Hispanics have alcohol problems of some sort. "People come here and don't have a social support network, so they try to enhance the network they have through alcohol," she said. "But that doesn't mean that all Latinos' families are drinking on the weekends."
McCary, who shadowed a professional medical interpreter at DUMC, said he realized the importance of learning about culture in addition to the language.
"Language proficiency is not enough," he said. "[Medical interpreters] have to have cultural proficiency as well as medical [vocabulary] proficiency."
Because Spanish for Health Professions is a gateway service-learning course, students must propose a research question related to problems they witness in their service sites. They may or may not pursue their research question in a later course.
Shalini Dave, a senior, volunteered by handing out pamphlets about diabetes prevention at El Centro Hispano while enrolled in the course. She said she decided to pursue her research further with an independent study course the following summer by developing the pamphlets to better communicate the information.
"I began to use Hispanic foods in the food pyramid," Dave said.
Blue said she appreciates Duke students' efforts to promote healthy habits in Durham's Hispanic population and thinks the community feels the same way.
"[Duke students] are a tremendous help. It is wonderful to have university students supporting the Latino community, and the community feels very appreciative to have students from a respected university learning Spanish and participating in a grassroots organization," she said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
duke
posted 4/11/07 @ 10:05 AM EST
it's obviously good to help the hispanic population or any population for that matter. however, be aware that the hispanic population is already consuming a tremendously large portion of duke medical center resources. (Continued…)
Post a Comment