adverse childhood experiences at higher rates than the overall population of the United States. Hispanic children have high rates of poverty. The National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families reports that child poverty rates among the US Hispanic population rose during the pandemic from 23.2% in 2019 to 27.3% in 2020.2 94% of Hispanic children were born in the US, but it is estimated that one-quarter of them have at least one parent who is an unauthorized immigrant.3 Hispanic children were also more likely than non-Hispanic children to have a caregiver die from COVID-19related causes during the pandemic.4 Framework for providing Culturally Developmentally Appropriate Care
and
One framework for understanding the needs of immigrant patients involves understanding the individual, family, and community factors affecting the patient.5 This model can be expanded to include a child’s developmental level and other factors which specifically affect children.
Providing Care to Hispanic Children from infancy to age 18 Katie Delgado, MD, MSPH, FAAP Abstract:
Community factors affecting dental care for immigrant children include immigration laws, nativism/racism in the community, and the availability of bilingual and culturally competent pediatric dentists in the community. Family factors include the specific culture of the family, the immigration status of the parents, parents’ educational level, parents’ access to transportation, parents’ economic resources, parents' ability to speak English, cultural understanding of dental care, and parents’ experience of trauma-related to racism or nativism. Individual factors include a child’s immigration and insurance status and the child’s age and developmental level.
As of 2020, the population of the United States of America included 72.3 million children, around one in five people living in our nation. Hispanic children in the United States are disproportionately affected by a number of cultural and socio-economic issues that impact their health. Awareness of these factors is important to establish both medical and dental homes for these children. Furthermore, an understanding of child development is key to providing care to these children. As a healthcare team, we must work together to understand Hispanic children and families in order to provide effective medical and dental homes for this population.
A 2014 study showed that children at the highest risk for caries are also the children least likely to see a dentist.6 Some of these factors include low family income, prolonged bottle use, and higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages - all factors I have found to be common in some Hispanic populations. As these high-risk children are more likely to see a pediatrician than a dentist, it is important for pediatricians to be comfortable counseling families on oral health and helping families find a culturally competent dental home.
Key Words: Child, Hispanic, At-Risk, SocioEconomic, Cultural, Dental Team. I am a mother in a multicultural Hispanic family and a primary care pediatrician who has provided care to Hispanic children for over 20 years. Providing high-quality care to Hispanic children requires an understanding of child development and an understanding of the experiences of Hispanic families in the United States.
When working with Hispanic families, both must have an understanding of typical Hispanic cultural values, such as the importance of the extended family and the religious community. However, it is
The 2020 Census found that people identifying as Hispanic made up 18.3% of the overall US population and 25.7% of the population under 18 years of age.1 Hispanic children face a number of
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