Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Evansville held another in its series of COVID-19 vaccine clinics for Latinos Sunday. This clinic was targeted at getting the Pfizer vaccine into the arms of younger Latinos.
Hayden Rivas is getting the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Was it a matter of choice, or….
“Because my mom said so, and because if I get COVID, then it’s not gonna’ be as bad, so yeah.”
Mom is Yesoi Sanchez of Evansville.
“He just turned twelve this month, so, two weeks ago was his birthday. “
Burger: “So, he’s now eligible and that’s why you got him here as early as possible?”
“Yes”
Burger: “You must think that’s a good idea, then.”
“Yes, good for him and good for us.”
Burger: “Why is that?”
“Because if he’s sick or something, we’ll be sick later. Now, we’re protected for the vaccine.”
Older sister Tiffany Sanchez is also vaccinated. She was quick to say it doesn’t hurt as much as her brother was trying to make them believe.
Only about a dozen people were vaccinated at the clinic. Organizers say they’re disappointed that more young people didn’t show, but they think many of the Latino adults attending Holy Rosary were vaccinated at the earlier clinics which were well attended.
¿Qué Pasa Midwest? first reported on the Latino vaccine clinics at Holy Rosary earlier this year. An added benefit is the research being collected by University of Evansville ChangeLab students, who interview those at the clinics about challenges in accessing culturally competent health care.
UE sophomore Daniela Castillo Daura is one of the students. She discussed the research with ChangeLab professor Cindy Crowe while they waited for more people to show up. As an international student from El Salvadore, Castillo Daura knows the plight of Latinos in the American health care system personally.
“Sometimes you just need help, but you don’t want to ask for it, because sometimes it’s embarassasing to ask, ‘Hey, can you translate this for me?’ We, as humans, feel very self-sufficient, so like then, when we can’t do something, we’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ It’s like difficult sometimes to say, ‘I don’t know.’”
Castillo Daura says when she is facing a stressful situation, she thinks of what she’s going to say in Spanish, her native language, and then translates that into English in her mind before she speaks. And, she often has to ask for time to think through what to say in English.
There are few more stressful situations than being sick and going to a physician, who is forced to see another patient every ten minutes or so. Castillo Daura says Latino patients need to speak up in those situations.
“You need to be comfortable with your doctor, telling them, ‘I don’t know this word, or I can’t speak to you in English right now.’ And I will need someone in Spanish, but maybe I want someone that actually is native in Spanish or like, grew up with my culture and can understand what I’m feeling right now.”
Castillo Daura says her purpose in the UE research is to get information to help educate American medical and health care professionals how to interact with Latinos within that limited time span.
“They have to go to the doctor because they get sick. And, it’s an emotional time because they’re sick, and they don’t understand what is happening. So, we want doctors to maybe understand that maybe the way they treat someone who has lived their whole life in the U.S. is different than someone (who) hasn’t.”
The UE research on Latinos’ medical challenges will be compiled and offered to area health care professionals for use in their practices.
