The Chronicle

Issue date: 4/11/07 Section: News
Last update: 4/11/07 at 8:15 PM EST

In response to a rapidly growing Hispanic population in the area, the University is currently seeking to alleviate Hispanics' health care problems with a service-learning class and the Local Access to Coordinated Health Care program.

During the past 10 years, Durham's Hispanic community has increased by 500 percent and is becoming more stable, said Liliana Paredes, assistant professor of the practice of Spanish. She added that more Hispanics are now buying property and settling in Durham for a year or more.

"Durham is becoming more of a city that is embracing Latinos who are making their lives here," Paredes said.

The newly immigrated population, however, encounters difficulties benefitting from health care because of cultural beliefs, lack of information, the language barrier and a differing perspective on health, Paredes added.

Colleen Blue, health program director of El Centro Hispano, said the most common problem Hispanics have with the health care system in Durham is accessing specialty care, due to lack of health insurance.

El Centro is a grassroots downtown-Durham organization that offers many services for its Hispanic clients. The group works together with LATCH, a program started by Duke University Medical Center that assists Hispanics in navigating the U.S. health system. LATCH employees help clients make doctors' appointments and apply for health insurance.

Another way that Duke's community engages with the Hispanic populace is through a class called Spanish for Health Professions offered by the Department of Romance Studies.

The class requires enrolled students to perform at least 20 hours of service in an organization in Durham that interacts with Spanish-speaking people in a health-related context.

The course was created in 2004 with a grant from DUMC because of a number of requests from pre-medicine students who wanted more Spanish experience.

In the classroom, the students not only practice the language but also learn about Hispanic culture in order to be prepared for real-world interactions at the service sites.

This semester, students have volunteered at the Lincoln Community Health Center, DUMC, Durham Crisis and Response Center, the Center for Child and Family Health and El Centro Hispano.

"The jobs vary from site to site according to the student's level of Spanish," said Bonnie McManus, the service coordinator for the course.

The class discusses how Hispanics perceive their own health, how Hispanic patients relate to their doctors and how health systems in most Hispanic countries function differently than in the United States.

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