The small study, published in the journal Ethnicity and Disease, looked at Latinas in upstate New York found that 70 percent of the women reported delaying doctor appointments, even though nearly all had insurance and over half had diagnoses of chronic medical conditions including diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
"Diagnosis should typically motivate you to seek further attention," says Janie Jurkowski, an assistant professor at the University at Albany's School of Public Health and lead author of the study. "It's really quite scary and striking to see that even with a chronic disease people are delaying care.”
Among the reasons the women listed for avoiding their doctor appointments included opting for alternative therapies, previous experience with discrimination in a clinical setting and a preference for doctors of their own race who "speak their language." Jurkowski says the cultural competence of the provider is very relevant in today's society and efforts to diversify the work force, provide interpretation services and encourage cultural sensitivity benefits everyone in the long run.
"The longer the these patients delay, the worse the outcome and the more rigorous and costly the treatment,” Jurkowski notes. “Getting people in sooner would be better for the healthcare system as whole, especially in the era of rising costs. " READ FULL STORY
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