OCHLA Release Year-End Report on State of Latino Healthcare

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The Ohio Commission on Hispanic-Latino Affairs (OCHLA) recently released their year-end report on the progress made by the state’s ever-growing Latino population. The report calls for more to be done to ensure that Latinos receive better quality healthcare outcomes.

From the report: “As the Ohio population continues to grow and diversify, the importance of a culturally and linguistically competent workforce in healthcare, education, and government cannot be overstated.”

The report, entitled “Ohio’s Changing Face: The Case for Culturally Responsive Institutions,” focused on the current state of cultural competence in healthcare, education, and governance in terms of the Latino population. It was found that Ohio lags behind the efforts of neighboring states in the areas of healthcare and education.

In terms of healthcare, the report cited recent studies in which Latinos and other minorities are more likely to suffer chronic conditions and higher death rates than non-Hispanic whites. Latinos were also 50% more likely to suffer from diabetes and liver-related illnesses.

Latinos are less likely to seek medical attention due to the combination of the historical mistrust that Latinos have with Western medicine and the lack of cultural competence of many health professionals, according to the findings of the repot. This has meant that treatable illnesses often go undetected which leads to greater health problems and greater medical expenses.

The report stated: “As a result, scholars and health policy analysts alike blame prejudice, stereotypes, and a lack of cultural and linguistic competence in medical professions for the disparities in health outcomes.”

State agencies have been called upon to improve how to deal with the burgeoning Latino population. Ohio saw an increase of over 135,000 Latinos from 2000 and 2010.

“Ohio, like the rest of the U.S., is in the process of a major demographic transformation, and it is the responsibility of government to adequately reflect those changes in order to equally represent its constituency,” the report said.