The Latino Patient: A Cultural Guide for Health Care Providers

by Nilda Chong

One book every health care professional needs!



By 2030 Latinos will comprise roughly 20 percent of the population of the United States. Growing numbers of health professionals are realizing the importance of understanding Latino cultural values as they impact the clinical encounter. Such knowledge can enhance their ability to communicate with and treat Latino patients effectively and respectfully.



The Latino Patient provides an in-depth exploration of Latino diversity, relevant cultural values, health status, beliefs, and practices; and effective communication strategies. The author has developed an original, practice-oriented model that leads the reader from greeting the patient to ultimately negotiating treatment. The book is hands-on and provides numerous vignettes gleaned from the author's experience. The Latino Patient should be high-priority reading for physicians, nurses, physician's assistants, therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers and other clinicians.

228 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2002

Reviews

[Nanyi Lidia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Excellent book. Accurate depiction of Latino patients. I'm a Latina myself and I found the book useful. All providers and medical interpretersshould read this

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm using this book in a Spanish for Health Care Professionals class. It is easy to read and repetitive in a way that drills the information into your head. So far it has been a useful tool for starting class discussion, but personally, I find that the author makes far too many sweeping generalizations, many of which apply to people of numerous cultures. I would have liked to see more about the differences between cultural groups: for example, an upper-class Argentine patient will have little in common with a patient from rural Mexico. For me, this is the book's major weakness.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book to get a sense of how to provide meaningful and impactful care to Latino patients.

I am a medical interpreter, so a lot of what’s in here is not geared toward toward my role per se, but gave me a lot to think about in terms of how I can foster elements from the book between patients and providers as an interpreter. The book does contain information about beginning/ending appointments that are very applicable for interpreters.

I’m only giving four stars, primarily because this book could use an update. Some of the language used has fallen slightly out of the realm of political correctness, and I imagine that some of the questions that are left open ended now have more research to speak about.

Given my personal bias as an interpreter, and how much growth there has been in the field of medical interpreting since the time this book was published, I would love to see more advice for providers about how to effectively use interpreters. In particular, ways of maintaining personalismo and simpatía with the addition of a third party acting as a conduit.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very readable book on how to approach and care for the Latino patient. While I felt like a lot of it was common sense and that much of it could be applied to people of all cultures, there was some information the was specific to the Latino population. I would have liked to see more info on the use of complementary and alternative medicine, since that is so important to this subset of patients, as well as folk medicine and beliefs. I do recommend it and feel that is a good addition to my healthcare library.

[Aida · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was fairly accurate. Clear writing, and although a little broad (other reviews have pointed out differences between varies nationalities might render advice less effective), the book really shines with it's advice for the Latinx elderly and children. As long as doctors don't assume that all Latinx are the same as this book's examples, but keep with them the cultural sensitivity, they'll be able to learn from this book.