The Health of Aging Hispanics

by Angel, Jacqueline L.

• ISBN13: 9780387472065
• ISBN10: 0387472061
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-03-01
• Publisher: SPRINGER

Summary

The population of the United States, like that of most other nations, will age rapidly well into the 21st century. By 2025, at least one-fifth of the population in 15 countries in the Americas is to be age 60 or over. Additionally, as the result of high immigration and fertility rates, as well as improvements in life expectancy, the United States Census Bureau projects that by 2050, the total number of non-Hispanic white aged 65 and over will more than triple, and the number of Hispanics in this age bracket will increase eleven fold. Despite these demographic facts, there is a significant dearth of information about the unique strengths and characteristics that underrepresented minority possess and experience as they age. Further examination of these understudied groups, especially among Hispanics - now the nation's largest minority group - offers the possibility to promote healthy aging for the entire nation. After years of research, researchers have a grasp of some of the complex issues and social and behavioral patters surrounding health that impact older Hispanic people, especially those of Mexican ancestry. The connection between immigration and health is complex and a host of factors related to immigration processes both in terms of the initial migration from Mexico (health selection) and subsequent incorporation into the United States (social causation) affect multiple health outcomes. In the coming decades, it will be critical to develop a better understanding of how immigration from Mexico, Latin America and other sending nations in Asia and Africa, produces health disparities in our aging population. In the proposed book, contributors will provide initial information on numerous factors that affect the health security of Mexican-origin families and individuals as they face the burdens of decline in health status and caring for children and the elderly simultaneously. Also included is material addressing important issues related to the contemporary political debate on immigration and healthcare reform in the United States and Mexico.

Table of Contents

Setting the stage : Hispanic health and aging in the Americas	p. 1
Exploring the health consequences of Hispanic mortality
Health status of elderly Hispanics in the United States	p. 17
Census disability rates among older people by race/ethnicity and type of Hispanic origin	p. 26
Disability and active life expectancy of older U.S.-and foreign-born Mexican Americans	p. 40
Predictors of decline in cognitive status, incidence of dementia/CIND and all-cause mortality in older Latinos : the role of nativity and cultural orientation in the Sacramento area Latino study on aging	p. 50
Education and mortality risk among Hispanic adults in the United States	p. 65
Does longer life mean better health? : not for native-born Mexican Americans in the health and retirement survey	p. 85
Contextualizing support and Mexican-origin health in old age : issues of family, migration, and income
Dynamics of intergenerational assistance in middle- and old-age in Mexico	p. 99
Aging, health and migration : the voices of the elderly poor in Mexico	p. 121
Aging and health interrelations at the United States-Mexico border	p. 134
Colonias, informal homestead subdivisions, and self-help care for the elderly among Mexican populations in the United States	p. 141
Access to health care services among elderly Hispanics with special reference to Mexican Americans
Disparities and access barriers to health care among Mexican American elders	p. 165
Lack of health insurance coverage and mortality among Latino elderly in the United States	p. 181
Access issues in the care of Mexican-origin elders : a clinical perspective	p. 195
Cross border health insurance and aging Mexicans and Mexican Americans	p. 202
Cultural myths and other fables about promoting health in Mexican Americans : lessons learned from Starr county border health intervention research	p. 211
Health insurance coverage and health care utilization along the U.S.-Mexico border : evidence from the border epidemiologic study of aging	p. 222
Options for health care reform
Impoverishing and catastrophic household health spending among families with older adults in Mexico : a health reform priority	p. 237
The health care safety net for Hispanics	p. 263
Globalization and health : risks and opportunities for the Mexico - U.S. border	p. 280
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.