Introduction
The term “Anglo-American” is primarily used to refer to people living in the U.S. and having at least partial English descent or origin. As per the recent American Community Survey, over 23 million U.S. citizens report having English ancestry, making them a populous subgroup (United States Census Bureau, 2019). The group’s health practices and beliefs include trust in evidence-based medicine and health authorities’ programs, healthcare service usage, and substantial self-care.
Health Practices
In modern research literature and statistical studies, Anglo-Americans’ unique health practices do not get much coverage and are generally mixed with those of other non-Hispanic white citizens ones, allowing for inter-racial comparisons. For white Americans, including Anglo-Americans, the proportions of adults and children in poor health are 14% and 1.7%, respectively, which is lower than the other races’ results (National Center for Health Statistics, 2021). This finding, along with white Americans’ higher health insurance rates, implies Anglo-Americans’ adequate self-care practices and the usage of healthcare services (National Center for Health Statistics, 2021). Therefore, Anglo-Americans’ health practices are those conducive to disease prophylaxis.
Health Beliefs
The discussed group’s health beliefs are generally inseparable from the pillars of Western medicine valuing evidence, biological plausibility, and measurable health improvements. Regarding lifestyle beliefs, regular personal hygiene, eating a healthy diet, and exercise are generally accepted as health-promoting factors. Next, compared to African Americans, white Americans, including individuals of English descent, are more likely to regard healthcare authorities and national immunization programs as trustworthy (Jamison et al., 2019). Aside from reliance on evidence-based health promotion interventions, such beliefs might be a result of limited experiences with discrimination as healthcare consumers.
Conclusion
Finally, similarly to other non-Hispanic white Americans, Anglo-Americans actively use evidence-based treatments and implement self-care recommendations. Compared to racial minorities, their perspectives on health are less affected by distrust towards the healthcare system. However, current research fails to explore the details of the group’s attitudes to health.
References
Jamison, A. M., Quinn, S. C., & Freimuth, V. S. (2019). “You don’t trust a government vaccine”: Narratives of institutional trust and influenza vaccination among African American and white adults. Social Science & Medicine, 221, 87-94. Web.
National Center for Health Statistics. (2021). Health of white non-Hispanic population. Web.
United States Census Bureau. (2019). People reporting ancestry. Web.