In his second year of clinical practice, Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH, was tasked to prescribe flu vaccinations for a largely Latino population—an assignment he felt prepared for being a native Spanish speaker whose family was from Puerto Rico.
“My first patient was a 72-year-old Latina woman,” recalls Betancourt. “She was a perfect candidate for the flu shot. I wanted to ensure that she was engaged, educated and knowledgeable because I had always been taught that was what mattered most. I spent ten minutes going through all the information with her in Spanish—I reviewed the pros, the cons, went through all the details—before asking if she wanted to receive one. ‘No, no la quiero,’ she said. 'No, no I do not want it.'”
This first patient was followed up by a Latino man, another patient for whom the vaccination was strongly indicated. Again, Betancourt reviewed the information; again, the patient declined the treatment. Over the next four months, this pattern continued, with over 90 percent of Betancourt’s Latino patients declining the vaccination. Eventually, Betancourt began assuming the patients would not want the shot. His delivery changed. He spoke faster and with a more abrupt tone. The informative speech that had originally taken ten minutes to deliver was cut in half.
[For more on this story, go to https://www.nichq.org/insight/...ies-childrens-health]
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