Introduction
The effect of heritage on people’s well-being is often underrated, yet it affects one’s understanding of health and, therefore, its management approach to an extensive degree. Thus, by performing a heritage analysis, one will be able to locate general trends regarding health management, its promotion, protection, and restoration, healthy habits development, and the risks of developing certain diseases and disorders. To identify the effects of the heritage assessment tool, three families were chosen.
The first one is represented by a 43-year-old African American man, the second is studied by performing an evaluation of a 23-year-old Latino man, and the third one is explored by analyzing the test results of a 21-year-old Asian woman. Although the test results were strikingly different in each case, common tendencies were identified in the process of assessment, the significance of family connections and the importance of family beliefs being the key ones.
Therefore, to administer appropriate treatment to the members of specified communities, one will have to ensure that family members support patients strongly in their decision to recover, and that family members are willing to cooperate with healthcare practitioners.
The test outcomes showed that each of the participants had strong ties with their families and was aware of their family’s history. The importance of religion in the lives of respondents also turned out to be very high. Furthermore, religious practices were actively supported by all family members, therefore, serving as the means of cementing the unity between family members. In addition, the significance of communication for each of the respondents stretches beyond their families and implies the consistent dialogue with the members of their communities.
However, it should be noted that there were certain differences in the results of the test among the participants. For example, the African American respondent mentioned that his family did not have any specific ethnic food, which was not the case with the Asian and Latino respondents. In addition, only the Latino respondent indicated that English was not his native language, whereas the Japanese and the African American participants referred to the English language as their native tongue. Nevertheless, most of the answers provided by the participants of the test were quite similar. The people taking the test showed a very strong connection to not only their families but also their community members.
Common Health Traditions
The similarity in the health traditions of the test participants is rather impressive. However, there are certain differences regarding how these traditions are represented in each case. For example, the emphasis on family unity is very powerful in the responses provided by the African American man, the Asian woman, and the Latino man. However, in the case of the Asian respondent, a certain dependence on the family could be noticed in the answers provided to the test.
In contrast to the situation that could be observed in the family environment of the African American and Latino participant, the Asian one seemed to be controlled by her family and discouraged from developing independent behaviors. The specified phenomenon may have detrimental effects on the management of the participant’s health-related needs, i.e., health management, promotion, protection, and restoration. For example, in case the family perspective of health management and treatment of specific diseases or disorders does not align with the one provided by a healthcare practitioner, the process of treatment may be hampered significantly (Perrino et al., 2016).
Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the active promotion of health literacy in the identified scenario. Particularly, in the case of the Asian woman, it will be imperative to encourage not only her but also her family members to educate themselves about contemporary health issues, major concerns, and the methods of addressing them, respectively. Otherwise, the threat of developing the scenario in which the process of health protection or restoration becomes impossible due to the objections on the side of family members becomes increasingly high.
The emphasis on religion, which was evident in the responses given by the African American and Latino men taking part in the test, can also be viewed as the factor that will have a massive impact on health promotion and management. For instance, the focus on religion can be used as a tool for introducing patients to the principles of religious coping (Holt, Clark, Debnam, Roth, 2014). The specified concept implies addressing serious health issues with an attitude that is based on faith and, thus, prevents a patient from developing depression and be affected by stress (Brewer, Robinson, Sumra, Tatsi, & Gire, 2015).
Nonetheless, the concept of religious coping may also have deleterious effects on a patient’s health if used as the means of shielding oneself from a problem instead of facing it, e.g., using religious coping with managing substance abuse issues (Holt et al., 2014). To promote health by using the participants’ religious beliefs, one will have to ensure that religion and faith are used solely as the platform for developing a positive attitude toward health problems.
It is remarkable that there was a significant difference in the responses about cooking and consuming ethnic food. While the Latino and Japanese respondents admitted that they enjoyed their ethnic food and consumed it quite often, the African American participant did not indicate a major propensity toward ethnic food consumption. The specified phenomenon has unique implications for each test respondent. For instance, seeing that the Asian meals can be described as comparatively healthy, consisting primarily of vegetables and seafood, the diet of the Asian woman can be regarded as rather healthy (Liu et al., 2017).
The fact that the Latino man was also enthusiastic about eating his traditional meals, however, leads to the assumption that the participant’s diet may consist of a significant amount of butter, sugar, cheese, and other types of fats and carbohydrates that can affect the participant’s health negatively (Perrino et al., 2016). Therefore, the introduction of moderation principles that will allow the participant to control his dieting habits and focus on consuming food that is rich in protein and vitamins should be regarded as important.
Conclusion
Although the respondents belong to different cultures, the similarities in their test answers suggest that common therapeutic measures can be used to encourage health promotion, protection, management, and restoration. Specifically, one must consider improving communication between health practitioners and patients’ families to ensure cooperation and support by patients’ families. If disregarded, the specified issue may affect the successful management of patients’ needs.
Furthermore, patients’ religious practices can be used to guide them through, especially difficult treatment processes. Finally, one must ensure that culture-specific tradition in the choice of food should not affect patients’ health. An elaborate diet that incorporates the elements of patients’ traditional cuisine is recommended.
References
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Brewer, G., Robinson, S., Sumra, A., Tatsi, E., & Gire, N. (2015). The influence of religious coping and religious social support on health behavior, health status, and health attitudes in a British Christian sample. Journal of Religion and Health, 54(6), 2225-2234. Web.
Holt, C. L., Clark, E. M., Debnam, K. J., & Roth, D. L. (2014). Religion and health in African Americans: The role of religious coping. American Journal of Health Behavior, 38(2), 190-199. Web.
Liu, Y., Buchanan, S., Anderson, H. A., Xiao, Z., Persky, V., & Turyk, M. E. (2018). Association of methylmercury intake from seafood consumption and blood mercury level among the Asian and Non-Asian populations in the United States. Environmental Research, 160, 212-222. Web.
Perrino, T., Pantin, H., Huang, S., Brincks, A., Brown, C. H., & Prado, G. (2016). Reducing the risk of internalizing symptoms among high‐risk Hispanic youth through a family intervention: A randomized controlled trial. Family Process, 55(1), 91-106. Web.