Vulnerable Population in the Workplace Back in 1999 the U.S. Health Department set a goal to, “eliminate disparities in health and in access to service for minorities,” for Healthy People 2010 (Crist, 2002). 2010 has come and gone, and although there have been improvements that goal continues to be in place for Healthy People 2020. Some vulnerable populations are still at risk and face many barriers preventing them access to proper healthcare. Attempting to overcome these barriers will often fall on the shoulders of healthcare providers; it becomes their job to help decrease the overall health disparity suffered by vulnerable populations. In this paper the subject to discuss is the vulnerable Mexican American population and will evaluate barriers faced by them as well as barriers faced by healthcare workers, and the methods that could be used in order to help decrease current health disparities.
Mexican-Americans: A Population at Risk Mexican-Americans, especially aging Mexican-Americans are an extremely vulnerable population. Currently, Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic population in the United States and as of the 2003 U.S. Census, their population, “grew at a rate almost fourfold that of the general population—13% vs. 3.3%--over a 39 month period” (Keating, et al. 2009). That being said, non-English-speaking immigrants are often socially and economically disadvantaged, which impacts health disparities (Keating, et al. 2009).
Barriers to Care There are many barriers that are working against the current attempts to decrease health disparities. One of these barriers is the fact that many Mexican-American people cannot afford good health insurance. In fact, many elderly Mexican-Americans who would greatly benefit from professional medical assistance are unable to obtain it because they did not qualify for Medicare (Crist, 2002). Often times this