It seems that no matter what part of the country you are located, there is a huge demand for health professionals to help meet the diverse needs of the U.S. population.

According to the San Bernardino County Sun, minorities “…hold the majority of all chronic disease statistics,” yet they are the minority among health care professionals.

This disparity has to change in order to adequately meet the needs of all patients. The question then is how will the health community recruit more minorities into the health profession? The interesting thing is that this recruiting effort must go beyond simply hiring more minorities, and an effort must be made to recruit individuals that have an understanding of language and cultural differences.

Among the Latino population, language is one of many barriers to health care. One in four is uninsured and one in seven has Type II diabetes.

The language issue in itself is very complex. The Spanish language for example, varies from country to country, and even region to region within the same country. One has to also take into consideration the numerous indigenous dialects that exist in Latin American countries. In the Fresno area there are many immigrants from Mexico whose primary language is Mixtec and not Spanish.

This is an issue that if left unaddressed could result in many problems for both the health and Latino communities.

“Just because you have one person who can speak the same language as another doesn’t mean the information is going to come out correct.”

Via / San Bernardino County Sun