The Health of Aging Hispanics: The Mexican-Origin Population

edited by

Jacqueline L. Angel

University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

and

Keith W. Whitfield

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

The population of the United States, like that of most other nations, will age rapidly well into the 21st century. By 2025, at least one-fifth of the population in 15 countries in the Americas is to be age 60 or over. Additionally, as the result of high immigration and fertility rates, as well as improvements in life expectancy, the United States Census Bureau projects that by 2050, the total number of non-Hispanic white aged 65 and over will more than triple, and the number of Hispanics in this age bracket will increase eleven fold. Despite these demographic facts, there is a significant dearth of information about the unique strengths and characteristics that underrepresented minority possess and experience as they age. Further examination of these understudied groups, especially among Hispanics - now the nation's largest minority group - offers the possibility to promote healthy aging for the entire nation.

In this unique volume, contributions provide initial information on numerous factors that affect the health security of Mexican-origin families and individuals as they face the burdens of decline in health status and caring for children and the elderly simultaneously, including health issues before and after immigration. Also included is material addressing important issues related to the contemporary political debate on immigration and healthcare reform in the United States and Mexico. In the coming decades, collections such as this will be critical to develop a better understanding of how immigration from Latin America, Asia and Africa to the United States produces health disparities in our aging population.

Zusammenfassung
The emergence of the Hispanic population in the United States and the incre- ing pro?le of Latin America on the North and South American continents have raised the pro?le of &quote;Latino&quote; issues in the American consciousness. Much of this attention, however, has revolved around trends in culture, art, food and music or pathological concerns about poverty, crime, drugs, and immigration. At best, the scholarly and policy assessments of the implications of the impact of Latinos in the United States revolve around Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Central Americans(aswellasthechildrenofanolderCubanpopulation)andtheirstruggles toachieveameasureofeducation,healthcare,employment,andcivilrights. What have not been adequately addressed are the demographic trends affecting Latinos in the United States, Mexico, and Latin America, particularly the aging of the H- panic population and its resultant health and long-term care needs. That Latinos are living longer and shifting from a youthful population to an increasingly older cohort is little known, except among the small cadre of Hispanic gerontologists. Ironically, this invisibility of aging Hispanics is juxtaposed to the almost p- icked response of the U. S. media and public toward the aging of the general U. S. population and the ?scal and political controversies over Social Security, Me- care, and health care costs. The policy debates of an aging U. S. population as a whole arise from substantial research and policy analysis-a level of attention not seen with regard to the aging of the Hispanic population.

Inhalt

Setting the Stage: Hispanic Health and Aging in the Americas.- Setting the Stage: Hispanic Health and Aging in the Americas.- Exploring the Health Consequences of Hispanic Mortality.- Health Status of Elderly Hispanics in the United States.- Census Disability Rates Among Older People by Race/Ethnicity and Type of Hispanic Origin.- Disability and Active Life Expectancy of Older U.S.-and Foreign-Born Mexican Americans.- Predictors of Decline in Cognitive Status, Incidence of Dementia/CIND and All-Cause Mortality in Older Latinos: The Role of Nativity and Cultural Orientation in the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging.- Education and Mortality Risk Among Hispanic Adults in the United States.- Does Longer Life Mean Better Health? Not for Native-Born Mexican Americans in the Health and Retirement Survey.- Contextualizing Support and Mexican-Origin Health in Old Age: Issues of Family, Migration, and Income.- Dynamics of Intergenerational Assistance in Middle- and Old-Age in Mexico.- Aging, Health and Migration: The Voices of the Elderly Poor in Mexico.- Aging and Health Interrelations at the United States-Mexico Border.- Colonias, Informal Homestead Subdivisions, and Self-Help Care for the Elderly Among Mexican Populations in the United States.- Access to Health Care Services Among Elderly Hispanics with Special Reference to Mexican Americans.- Disparities and Access Barriers to Health Care Among Mexican American Elders.- Lack of Health Insurance Coverage and Mortality Among Latino Elderly in the United States.- Access Issues in the Care of Mexican-Origin Elders: A Clinical Perspective.- Cross Border Health Insurance and Aging Mexicans and Mexican Americans.- Cultural Myths and Other Fables About Promoting Health in Mexican Americans: Lessons Learned from Starr County Border Health Intervention Research.- Health Insurance Coverage and Health Care Utilization along the U.S.-Mexico Border: Evidence from the Border Epidemiologic Study on Aging.- Options for Health Care Reform.- Impoverishing and Catastrophic Household Health Spending Among Families with Older Adults in Mexico: A Health Reform Priority.- The Health Care Safety Net for Hispanics.- Afterword Globalization and Health: Risks and Opportunities for the Mexico-U.S. Border.