These health issues worry Hispanics in Macon

Last week, we presented some findings from a survey we did last spring with Hispanic residents in Macon. This week we follow up and present our findings regarding their current health concerns, frequencies of routine checkups and their views on children’s health. As mentioned last week, the Hispanic population is growing statewide and locally and so it is important to try to better understand their health issues and challenges. The health of specific communities affects the health of all communities after all.

The participants we surveyed identified many current health concerns, but the most mentioned were diabetes, cancer, the health and welfare of women and obesity/weight loss. Each of these was mentioned by at least one-third of the participants. Other such issues as alcohol and drug abuse, asthma and lung disease, child welfare and mental health were mentioned by 10 percent to 20 percent of the participants as main health concerns. These concerns were fairly similar for the men and women in our sample, with a few exceptions. For instance, women mentioned “health and welfare of women” more and “asthma/lung disease” and “vaccine preventable diseases” much less than their male counterparts in our sample.

About two-thirds (63.5 percent) of the participants in our sample reported having a routine checkup within the past two years, but 15 percent reported “never” having had one. Men were more likely than women to report never having a routine checkup. A substantial percentage (43.3 percentage) of the women in our study reported never having a mammogram, and nearly four-fifths (78 percent) of the men in our study have never had a rectal exam. There are recommended screening routines for both of these exams — women aged 40 and over are recommended to have a mammogram either annually or every two years and men over 50 should have a rectal exam and screening for prostate cancer — and so perhaps this information needs to be delivered more effectively to this population.

Granted, insurance status may play a major role with respect to the low rates of screening, and “lack of insurance” was the No. 1 factor identified by participants when asked what prevented them from receiving medical care in Macon (followed by “language barriers” and “co-payments or deductibles are too high”), but we would urge Hispanics here to contact local organizations such as Family Advancement Ministries, La Conexion Hispana, First Choice Primary Care or the Macon-Bibb County Health Department to learn more about local resources available to overcome this and other health-related obstacles.

Parents in our survey reported wanting more information regarding nutrition, dental hygiene and drugs/STDs for their kids. About 15 percent of these parents indicated that their kids have asthma, and a similar percentage reported having an overweight/obese child. Nearly 10 percent of the parents indicated that high cholesterol was an issue as well.

Jose and I, along with a cadre of his students, hope to continue collecting health-related data from the Hispanic community in this area. Larger sample sizes will give us more confidence in any generalizations we may make and will allow us to compare subgroups (for instance, based on education level, age, length of time in the U.S., gender, etc.) within the Hispanic population. The Hispanic community in Macon is very diverse and the opinions and views of the different subgroups will undoubtedly reflect that in many instances.

Don’t hesitate to let us know what you think of our findings or if you have any suggestions as we move forward. We believe that potential issues are hard to recognize or address without data or at least asking.

This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 5:21 PM with the headline "These health issues worry Hispanics in Macon."