The role of religion in health care among people who became known as Latina/as can be traced back to first encounters between the Spaniards and indigenous peoples in the Americas. Some of the Spanish chroniclers were interested in discovering new medicines, and so they collected as much information as possible about health practices. In general, health care and medicine were intertwined with an imperialistic study of subject peoples. This entry treats health care as a result of the triadic interactions of European, indigenous, and African traditions that are still being experienced among the pan-ethnic group we call Latina/as, and that includes Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans. Much of what will be discussed falls into the category of folk medicine that is derived from historical and traditional practices within Hispanic communities rather than from modern scientific methods of diagnosis and healing.