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Hispanics and Health Care in the United States
Access, Information and Knowledge
The Hispanic population is the largest growing minority group in the United States—more than 45.5 million in 2007, a number projected to almost double by 2050. Funded by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this report examines the results of a telephone survey of 4,013 Hispanic adults. The survey was designed to explore how the diverse characteristics of the Latino population affect their health care needs, their sources of health care information, and their knowledge about chronic disease.
Key Findings:
- Foreign born and less assimilated Latinos are less likely than other Latinos to report that they have a usual place to go for their health care needs.
- About seven in 10 respondents reported they had seen a physician in the past year and 77 percent of them rated their care as excellent.
- More than 83 percent stated that they obtained health information (and more than three-quarters acted upon it) from media sources, in particular television.
- Fifty-eight percent of respondents scored high on a test assessing their knowledge on diabetes.
This study provides useful data for policy-makers, medical communities, and the media in designing programs and interventions aimed at the Latino communities.