Building a Primary Care Research Agenda for Latino Populations in the Setting of the Latino Paradox: A Report from the 2023 Latino Primary Care Summit.

Abstract

Latinos represent almost 20% of the US population and face significant health and health care inequities. When compared with socioeconomically similar comparators, they demonstrate better all-cause mortality, a long-observed epidemiologic phenomenon known as the "Latino paradox." In May 2023, we convened the inaugural Latino Primary Care Summit, focused on the theme, "Immigrant Paradox: Primary Care Roles, Implications and Future," with the goal of helping to define a research agenda and recommendations for Latino primary care equity within the context of the Latino paradox. The Summit consisted of 8 expert presentations, including breakout discussion groups and report-outs to the entire Summit group. Six themes were identified from presentation content, and recommendations were drawn from these to better inform a primary care research agenda for Latino health equity. The 6 themes were organized into the following categories: 1) Latino Paradox Considerations, Limitations, and Implications (proper standardization and contextualization). 2) Data Issues (accurate and ethical categorization). 3) Bridging Clinic and Community (understanding partnership development and maintenance). 4) Primary Care Challenges (specific issues related to day-to-day delivery of primary care to Latino patients). 5) Social Needs (implementation and evaluation of social needs screening to Latino patients. 6) Workforce/Academics, Representation Inequities, and Innovation (research training, workforce diversity, and innovation approaches).