Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities Essay

Respond on or before Day 6 on 2 different days to at least two of your colleagues who were assigned a different patient than you. Critique your colleague’s targeted questions, and explain how the patient might interpret these questions. Explain whether any of the questions would apply to your patient, and why. Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities Essay

Paloma Hernandez, 26 year-old, Spanish speaking patient who presents to the clinic for the last 2 days in a row complaining of abdominal pain that is getting worse. The first visit the staff relied on her younger bilingual daughter to translate. She was treated with Omeprazole and encouraged to take OTC medication. Today she presents with the same problem. Her daughter states it is the same problem but worse today. Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities Essay

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Diversity in healthcare is important in order to effectively communicate and serve patients (Laureate Education, n.d.). Healthcare providers need to be culturally sensitive by being aware of the similarities and differences their patients may have from them, and this must be done in a non-judgemental manner (Laureate Education, n.d.). It is through cultural sensitivity that one can best treat patients wholly. Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities Essay

Ms. Hernandez is Spanish-speaking only and is Hispanic, these facts put her at risk for health disparities, increasing her risk for morbidity and mortality (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Latinos have poor health outcomes related to lack of access to healthcare and due to language and cultural barriers (Corvin et al., 2020). Communication and understanding are necessary to help understand and diagnose a patient adequately; utilizing the patient’s daughter to translate may result in omitting important symptoms, thus a third-party translator should be utilized. It is important to clarify the patient’s spiritual beliefs and the role they play in illness. Additionally, culture can influence the patient’s lifestyle as it pertains to diet. The latter items should be clarified to get a clear picture of the symptoms potentially contributing to Ms. Hernandez’s abdominal pain. Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities Essay

The following are questions that can be asked, among others:

Please rate your pain on a scale of 0-10 with 10 being the worst pain you have ever had.

Where on the abdomen does it hurt? Can you show me, please?

What precipitates the pain?

Describe the pain.

What kind of foods/drinks do you have on a daily basis? Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities Essay

One method to combat health disparities is to address the patient culturally sensitively. Understanding, and clarifying, the answers to the questions above will aid in the diagnosis of the health concern. One must also keep in mind the socioeconomic status, culture, and language of the patient as this can help with the diagnosis of health Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities Essay