| Popis: |
This chapter provides specific recommendations to health-care providers regarding how to work with Puerto Ricans who have dementia, including how to work with their family members and caregivers. The recommendations, however, do not take place in a vacuum as they draw on Puerto Rico’s sociopolitical history. The continuous colonization of Puerto Rico, first by Spain in 1493 and since 1898 by the United States of America (USA), is a predominant factor impacting health-care practices for Puerto Ricans and a constitutive force on the cultural identity of island-based and USA mainland Puerto Ricans. Although USA citizenship allows Puerto Ricans to migrate to the USA without restrictions, the sociopolitical association between the USA and Puerto Rico has not translated into equal humanitarian treatment or advancement for Puerto Ricans on the island or on the USA mainland. On the contrary, colonialism in Puerto Rico has caused significant economic and social disruption. In turn, this disruption is associated with health disparities across Puerto Rican populations and the deterioration of the island’s health system. Hence, understanding the experiences of island-based and mainland Puerto Ricans requires an examination of how colonialism affects the lived experiences and health of this population including those impacted by dementia. To this end, this chapter describes dementia and health disparities among island-based and USA mainland Puerto Ricans and summarizes how Puerto Rico’s cultural contact with Spain and the USA has important implications for the delivery of health services to Puerto Ricans. This chapter also provides a description of USA mainland Puerto Ricans’ sociodemographic and health profiles and a discussion of historical and contemporary colonialism in Puerto Rico. |
