Community Blog

Responsibility to Help Minorities Improve Health

By Ismari Martinez, HCR Human Resources Associate

National Minority Health Awareness Month provides us all the opportunity to focus on empowering minorities to adopt a more active role in their personal health. Raising awareness of the health disparities which affect minorities can undoubtedly save lives in our community. This endeavor can be successful with the participation of all health care practitioners and health care agencies such as HCR. It is our responsibility to educate minorities in ways that they can become more health conscious and increase longevity in their lives and the lives of their family members.

I recently read African Americans are 30% more likely than Caucasians to die from heart disease. This statistic shows one of the many reasons we should all be willing to help minorities understand the importance of good eating habits and exercise to enhance their quality of life.

I am a Hispanic female – and I have been touched by diabetes in my family. Half of my father’s twelve brothers and sisters have fallen victims of this devastating disease. Through education, exercise, and healthy eating, most of my aunts and uncles have been able to control their diabetes and live normal, productive lives.

This is a perfect example of why I believe it is possible to reach others to help educate them and improve their health status. Many people think they are alone with their illness or disease, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Here at HCR, not only are we responsible for educating minorities, we are also responsible for saving their lives.