Twice in need of care: a transcultural nursing analysis of elderly Mexican Americans.

In sum, elderly Mexican Americans residing in an urban area were identified as a population at high risk for chronic conditions associated with age and were also at risk for health problems related to migrant status, poverty-level incomes, and low levels of education and nutrition. They are in need of care, i.e. assistance, succorance, nurturance, stress alleviation, and support in a stressful urban environment in which they encounter barriers of language, transportation, eligibility requirements, and self-perceptions of inferior ethnic identify. The family and kin groups are most important but are not exhaustive of the sources of emotional support and bonds of social obligations for elderly Mexican Americans. Networks of informal relationships and culturally sanctioned groups also involve the individual in emotionally supportive bonds (Cuellar, 1977; Nall & Speilberg, 1967; Valle & Mendoza, 1978). As transculturally prepared nurses, we need to assess individuals and families to establish what roles we should assume as relief caregivers or as providers of professional nursing care, in addition to the care provided by the family and other significant others. This analysis of the social factors and values of elderly Mexican Americans focuses on a social structural theory to explain the health status and behavior of Mexican Americans related to health and illness. The relevance of such a preliminary analysis is that it provides the framework for interpretation of patients' behavior so the nurse may better understand and predict patient behavior related to health and illness.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)