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Following is a COLLEGE PAPER
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California State University
Abstract
One of the elements contributing to the aging of Hispanic immigrants is a tremendous increase in the sheer numbers of these older people. In fact, this elderly community makes up the fastest growing segment of the American population.
Research Critique, Design, and Sampling
Introduction
Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the United States and it is estimated that, by the next decade, Hispanics will be the largest minority in the United States. Ailinger and Causey (1995) stated that the number of elderly Hispanic Americans is the fastest growing ethnic elderly population and that, four years from now, the number of elderly Hispanic Americans will have increased four times.
Until recently, Hispanic immigrants were not included in popular wellness and health promotion activities. However, the soaring costs of medical care and the ignorance of health care providers about health beliefs and practices among elderly Hispanics led to the following research question: What is the meaning of health to older Hispanic immigrants?
Health care providers have little information about Hispanic immigrants' health care expectations and their folk beliefs and philosophical ideas regarding health problems. Knowing what health means to older Hispanics will make it easier for health care providers to give care that is consistent with Hispanic cultural beliefs and values.
Despite the increased numbers of elderly Hispanic immigrants in the U.S., few research studies have focused on the multidimensional functional status of the Hispanic minority. Ailinger and Causey performed their research because so little is known about the older Hispanic immigrant population, compared to the general elderly population. These researchers were seeking to help health care providers plan and implement health care for the elderly Hispanic immigrant population.
Research Design of the Study
In this 1995 community study, Ailinger and Causey summarized Hispanic immigrants' idea of health. The researchers' primary interest was to understand the behaviors, needs, and attitudes of Hispanic immigrants over the age of 60. The sample of 54 respondents in this descriptive research was taken from 156 older Hispanics living in the Washington, D.C. area.
To reach the Hispanic immigrant population, Ailinger and Causey (1995) had bilingual interviewers conduct interviews in Spanish. This helped the subjects feel more relaxed, thus assuring that the researchers would obtain the information they were seeking. Also, the participants were interviewed in their homes, which was a perfect nonthreatening environment for these Hispanic immigrants; the interviewees felt more free to talk and did not feel intimidated. Hispanic immigrants are very shy, especially females; conducting the investigation in Spanish helped the researchers obtain the information they sought.
Weaknesses of this Design Study
Only one table was used to present the socioeconomic status of the participants. One major weakness was that Ailinger and Causey used analyses from previous data. The results of the number sampled, 54 out of 156, were not an accurate response to the hypothesis. The researchers did not explore the reasons for identified problems, and they did not report solutions. The researchers failed to identify diversity among the respondents' demographic characteristics and whether the subjects were chosen because of their Spanish surnames or whether the subjects were authentic Hispanics. Considering all of these components, the Ailinger and Causey study was incomplete and inconclusive.
Internal and External Validity
This research study failed to measure what it was supposed to measure: (a) the validity of the research was influenced by the subjects selected for the sample; (b) the respondents selected did not give accurate responses, which the researchers were seeking; and (c) the researchers did not know whether the subjects were telling the truth. Most of the time, many Hispanic immigrants tell researchers, health care providers, and other persons in authority what those people want to hear.
Information Needed for Replication
Ailinger and Causey (1995) recommended replicating this study; they suggested that other researchers explore the health idea of other Hispanic age groups as well as other cultural groups. However, before considering replicating Ailinger and Causey's study, future researchers must bear in mind the study's limitations. (a) The sample was limited to older Hispanic immigrants; and we don't know their nationalities. (b) The researchers did not tell us what problems the interviewers encountered during questioning the immigrants. (c) The researchers would have acquired more data from their sample population if they had used clerical materials rather than mechanical devices. (d) The researchers would have received more honest and accurate responses to their questions if they had used a prepared and written questionnaire. (e) Explanations should have been given in both Spanish and English. (f) Clerical tools are less reliable; however, in this case, they would have been beneficial for measuring the research process. (g) Interviewers must be very tactful in handling the elderly Hispanic immigrant population; otherwise, there are likely to be variables in the results because elderly Hispanics are generally very much aware when they are being investigated.
Sampling Design
Ailinger and Causey (1995) used the longitudinal sampling technique, and they followed each individual separately. Of the 54 respondents selected from the larger sample of 156 immigrants over the age of 60, 60% were female and half had lived in the United States an average of 13 years. All of the participants selected from the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., must have emigrated from Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
The sample was chosen using nonprobability techniques. The researchers believed that their findings correlated to and correctly answered the research questions.
The researchers discussed the adequacy of the sample size. They put much emphasis upon the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. They stated that their sample had strong ties in both culture and language, but the functional area was not considered.
Ailinger and Causey (1995) were biased. According to them, the elderly subjects interviewed all had the same culture and beliefs. Such negative stereotyping is a typical example of how the Hispanic immigrant group has been isolated from the general American population. Reinert (1989) has stated that there are differences in language, religious affiliation, income, traditional values, beliefs, and cultures among all elderly Hispanic immigrants.
Data Collection Improvements That Can Be Made
(a) Researchers must gather data themselves, keeping their objectives in mind, because data currently acquired will not fit the conceptual framework 10 years later. (b) Researchers need to become more familiar with the cultures and lifestyles of the participants they study. For example, Ailinger and Causey should have included a table showing the demographics and characteristics of the subjects in their sample selection. (b) Researchers studying the elderly Hispanic immigrant population should know how the respondents got their names and not merely select respondents who have Spanish last names, as Ailinger and Causey apparently did. More thorough research on the source of Hispanic names will result in more accurate research data. (d) The sample characteristics used in a study of the Hispanic immigrant population should accurately represent that group, which the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., does not.
Conclusion
Nurses need to (a) consider the influence of prescribed health practices upon the religious beliefs of a minority, (2) identify positive strategies, (3) explore minority patients' support systems which they utilize to gain life satisfaction, and (4) determine the meaning of health and illness to minority persons.
Ailinger and Causey's (1995) study technique lacked insight and cultural awareness. According to Jezewski (1990), when interviews are facilitated with cultural sensitivity, information is relayed and shared. When this interviewing technique is utilized, the receptors of the acquired information are sensitive to the importance of cultural variables in the health care of ethnically and culturally diverse patients.
References
Ailinger, R., & Causey, M. E. (1995). Older concept of older Hispanic immigrants. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 17(6), 605-613. [note new styles generally use hanging indent]
Jezewski, M. (1990). Culture brokering in migrant farmworker health care. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 12(4), 497-511.
Reinert, B. (1989). The health care beliefs and values of Mexican-Americans. Home Healthcare Nurse, 16(2), 23-31.
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