Lebanon city is known to have a large Hispanic community according to census data. Local organizations have been working towards making sure that they provide support to the Latinx community locally. Lebanon Family Health Services along with multiple organizations celebrated on 6th between Chestnut and Cumberland St. The event took place from 9-12pm and they were able to get different educational and preventive healthcare related information and health screenings. An estimate of 50-70 community members benefited from this event.
According to the CDC minority groups are at more risk to become ill making them more vulnerable “The data show that racial and ethnic minority groups, throughout the United States, experience higher rates of illness and death across a wide range of health conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma, and heart disease, when compared to their White counterparts” Organizations like the ones who participated in the Latino Health Fair are aiming to address these issues.
One of the challenges that arise when it comes to providing support to minority groups is effective outreach to provide care. A lot of this has to do with the lack of access to affordable healthcare and treatments making minority groups be more likely to incur in medical debt.” Issues around cost, affordability, and access to care also contribute to inequities. Black, Latinx/Hispanic, and AIAN populations are less likely to have health insurance, more likely to face cost-related barriers to getting care, and more likely to incur medical debt.”(David C. Radley et al., Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in U.S. Health Care: A Scorecard of State Performance (Commonwealth Fund, Nov. 2021). https://doi.org/10.26099/ggmq-mm33)
This is why events like the Latino Health Fair are important into the development of a better health outcome for minority groups like the Latinx.
The event took a lot of planning and collaboration between organizations as it took months and months of meetings to get the different stakeholders involved. We were able to document some parts of the event.
Photos taken by Q Hubo News & Lebanon Family Health Services Staff
Author: Amaury Abreu
