A new report from Collage Group highlights that Hispanics/Latinos are the demographic most likely to act as caregivers for seniors in the United States, despite facing systemic barriers in health care. Titled “Engaging Hispanic Carefluencers”, the study sought to understand the current landscape of Latino caregivers, emphasizing the trends and issues they face when caring for family members.

This care is a demanding task that involves several responsibilities, such as managing prescriptions, taking care of the home, contributing financially, following up on medical appointments, and explaining medical terminology to those in your care. In this sense, Latinos are more likely to live in multigenerational households, which increases the chance of becoming caregivers as their family members age.

The study revealed that 67% of Hispanics in the U.S. perform care tasks for someone with health problems, 10 percentage points higher than the average for the general population. This role is played simultaneously with other responsibilities such as work and childcare. About 52% of Latino caregivers are employed and 53% have children under the age of 18, increasing the workload to be managed.

Cultural traditions and the importance of family play a central role in Latino people's decision to become caregivers. Linguistic noise and the lack of culturally competent care are also significant factors. Often, Hispanics begin acting as translators and interpreters for their parents at an early age due to English language limitations.

The lack of cultural and spiritual support in health care services, such as psychiatric hospitals, is an additional concern for Hispanics, who tend to view these services as not meeting patients' wishes. In addition, Hispanic caregivers report having few sources of help or information about caregiving, with an average of only 1.4 sources of support, getting information from professionals or from friends and family less often than other groups.

Collage Group recommends a few approaches to closing the gap among Hispanic caregivers and ensuring that their efforts are recognized and effective. This includes acknowledging the challenges they face, sharing resources and stories, and ensuring that clinicians are culturally and linguistically competent to support Hispanic patients and caregivers.

Finally, the study underlines the importance of cultural traditions of warmth and family centrality among Hispanics, highlighting that 86% of Latinos consider family to be one of the most important things in life, compared to 82% of the total population. This emphasis on family, coupled with the lack of culturally competent care options, motivates many Hispanics to take on the role of caregivers.