The Latino Patient – Effective Communication

Delivering Health Messages Successfully

While conveying health messages to Latinos can be difficult at times, by taking the cultural values into account, a health professional can increase the effectiveness of the communication. In order to initiate change in a behavior of a Latino patient and to help maintain the change, it is important to consider four different factors: familism, friends, faith, and fatalism.

Familism

While the Latino culture is not individualistic, telling a patient to change a habit in order to improve personal health may not be a sufficient reason to invoke change. As the culture is more family oriented, implying that changing a habit may be beneficial for the family is much more likely to result in a change in the behavior.

For example, to encourage a smoker to quit smoking, one might say that changing the habit will allow the patient to…

• ×          Live a longer life and have the pleasure of knowing his or her grandchildren
• ×          Set a good example for children
• ×          Protect family members from suffering or harm caused by secondhand smoke
• ×          Save money for a family vacation

Friends

Similar to the idea of familism, Latinos highly value their social relationships and connections. The opinions and advice given by close friends are held in high regard and have strong influence over the actions of many Latinos. Again, encouraging a habit change in order to achieve a personal goal is not likely to produce a change. On the other hand, referencing issues related to friends and relationships may have a greater impact on the patient.

For example, to encourage an alcoholic to attend AA meetings, one might say that joining AA will allow the patient to…

• ×          Help friends who struggle with the same problem
• ×          Be accepted by friends
• ×          Influence and be influenced by others in the social group

Faith

Religious faith and faith in the health care provider are both very important. Many Latinos believe strongly in the power of God to heal and direct the outcome of all circumstances. When an illness is experienced, Latinos may visit shrines and offer prayers, candles, or other offerings to God or saints with hopes that they will cure the illness. Faith can also be placed in a trustworthy health care provider with whom the patient has had past experience and successful outcomes. This faith can help encourage a patient to begin or maintain a healthy lifestyle change.  As a health care provider, alluding to a patient’s faith in God can be beneficial in encouraging the change.

Fatalism

Fatalism is the concept that all events are predestined and that all humans are subject to an unavoidable fate over which we have no control. This can present a real challenge for health care providers, especially if the patient believes that there is nothing that he or she can do to change the situation.

To encourage a patient to make efforts to overcome an illness, one might say…

• ×          “God may be testing your faith and want to see you make efforts to improve”
• ×          “There may be other missions in life that God has planned for you and overcoming this obstacle might be important in achieving the others”
• ×          “God or the saints may be impressed with your perseverance and unwillingness to give up."