Hispanic Vulnerabilities in the US: A VPCM Review

Introduction

Vulnerable populations encompass racial and ethnic minorities, economically disadvantaged, homeless, the elderly, those with HIV, as well as those with other chronic health conditions such as severe mental illnesses (“Vulnerable populations,” 2006). In addition, individuals in remote areas who encounter barriers while accessing healthcare services are part of vulnerable populations. Mainly, aspects such as ethnicity, age, race, sex, income, lack of basic care and insurance coverage enhance the vulnerability of individuals. This section reviews Hispanic population as a vulnerable population in the US using Vulnerable Population Conceptual Model (VPCM).

Description of the Population

We will write acustom essay on your topictailored to your instructions!

182experts online

Let us help you

Hispanic (or Latino) ethnicity is an individual of Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Central or South American, or any other person with Spanish origin or culture irrespective of the race. Based on 2013 estimates, Hispanic community constitutes the largest minority population in the US with 54 million people or 17% the entire population (“Hispanics in the US,” 2015). The largest populations of Hispanic people live in states such as California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, New York, Colorado, New Jersey, and Florida.

Vulnerable Population Conceptual Model (VPCM)

Resource Availability

Based on 2014 estimates, 23.6% (13.1 million) of Hispanics in comparison to 10.1% of non-Hispanic whites live in poverty (US Census Bureau, 2015). On a different vein, the average income of Hispanics as per 2014 estimates is $42,491, which is an increment as per 2013 estimates ($40,337). Regarding health insurance coverage, 25% of Hispanics do have access to health insurance cover (Krogstad & Lopez, 2014). Among those without health insurance cover, 6 million Hispanics are US born, while 7 million are immigrants.

Hispanic populations encounter education issues analogous to other minority communities. Statistically, only about one-half of Hispanic students get high school diploma. On the other, out of students who complete high school, only 50% of Hispanic students are prepared to go to college (The White House, 2011). Again, only 13% of Hispanics possess a bachelor’s degree. Interestingly, only 4% of Hispanics have managed to complete professional degree programs.

Relative Risks

Hispanic communities demonstrate considerably high rates of crime, abuse, and violence than whites but lower than blacks. Statistically, children maltreatment among the Hispanics is 8.5 per 1,000 children compared to 8.1 among the whites and 14.6 among the blacks (Sumner et al., 2015). Again, the female-to-male partner violence (FMPV) and male-to-female partner violence (MFPV) rates are high among Hispanic communities compared to whites. Notably, the rate of rape among Hispanics is 18.4% compared to 14.6% among the whites (Caetano, Field, Ramisetty-Mikler, & Lipsky, 2009). On the other hand, the rate of physical assault is 51.8% compared to 53.2% among the whites.

On-time delivery!

Get your 100% customized paperdone in as little as 1 hour

Let’s start

Hispanics tend to be obese and overweight. As a result, Hispanics adjusted rate of obesity is 42.5%, in comparison to 32.6% of the whites and 47.8% of the blacks (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). Notably, such biological conditions tend to cause other chronic and clinic conditions such as stroke, heart diseases, diabetes, certain types of cancer and hypertension.

Health Status

The infant mortality rate and morbidity rate of Hispanic population have declined over the years. Notably, between 2005 and 2010, the infant deaths per 1,000 live births declined from 5.62 to 5.25 among the Hispanic women (CDC, 2014). The mortality rate of Hispanic communities is associated with poisoning, suicide, cancer, chronic liver diseases, and diabetes. On morbidity rate, Hispanics are twice likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than non-Hispanic white. Besides, Hispanics are 40% more likely to succumb to death because of diabetes compared to non-Hispanic whites.

Conclusion

Hispanic community, which constitutes 54 million of the US population, is a vulnerable population. Particularly, almost one-quarter of the Hispanic population live in poverty. In turn, about 25% of the Hispanic population is unable to have access to the health insurance coverage. Again, more about one-half of the Hispanic community is semi- illiterat