STUDENT VOICES
By Catalina Mercado

“Is there trust in medicine?”

Hispanic cultural constructs like confianza (trust) and respeto (respect) are central to the lives of many Hispanic communities across the United States. Taking a closer look at these pillars makes evident their discomfort with medical advice from doctors, nurses, and pharmacists alike. In fact, in recent studies it has been found that Hispanic children have had a higher rates of hospitalization and death than non-Hispanic white children. In a recent study conducted titled, “COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Economically Marginalized Hispanic Parents of Children under Five Years in the United States,” Fordham University’s Celia B. Fisher, PhD, and colleagues found that there are cultural and social factors related to vaccine hesitancy in Hispanic parents that may explain the disproportionate hospitalizations in the community. Further, the study found that economically disadvantaged Hispanic guardians in particular felt unsure if they would vaccinate their children against COVID-19 infection.

A range of factors contributed to this uncertainty or hesitancy, but the persistent misinformation about vaccine side effects on younger children was salient among guardians. False information included a wide range of hoaxes and media posts that targeted Hispanic communities, but underlying reasons for the acceptance of misinformation certainly paint a clearer picture as to why Hispanic communities may feel hesitant about vaccinating their children. Interestingly, more vaccine- hesitant or resistant parents reported a sense of belonging to American culture, but overall, respondents of the study demonstrated a strong sense of belongingness with respect to their Hispanic culture.

An important implication here is how cultural pillars like familism, community support, confianza (trust), and respeto (respect) are being overlooked by healthcare providers as concrete ways in which providers can reach these communities. Employing these cultural pillars allows healthcare professionals to engage communities with culturally relevant information on vaccinations and other necessary medical knowledge. For example, the parents involved in the study indicated that there was deep community support in pediatric vaccination decisions, especially among vaccine-accepting parents. This shows how medical providers, especially pediatricians serving Hispanic communities, should take a more active role in discussing routine child vaccinations specifically with parents of Hispanic children.

Consequently, many parents did not know if their child received the COVID-19 vaccination in the first place. This emphasizes that proper communication between the patient and the provider is critical. Communication will also constitute trust, respect, and acceptance from the Hispanic parents towards their medical provider, which will elicit much more understanding and a collaborative relationship when providers and the field of medicine at-large consider the importance of cultural implications on adherence to medical suggestions and recommendations. Once Hispanic communities feel respected (respeto), and an ability to trust (confianza) their pediatricians, the hope is that they will feel immense support within their community through partnership with the health sector. As a result, the fight against infections such as COVID-19 and potential future pandemics will be more successful.

Confianza en medicina es possible. Confidence in medicine is possible.

Reference:
Fisher, C., Bragard, E., Madhavanan, P.*(2023). COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Economically Marginalized Hispanic Parents of Children under Five Years in the United States. Vaccines, 11(3), 599. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11030599