Heritage health assessment tool is used in nursing in order to assess, maintain, and promote healthcare habits in individuals and families based on one’s culture and beliefs. It provides healthcare specialists with critical information regarding individuals’ habits in relation to their culture, which can vary from one person to another. Traditional healthcare assessment revolves around spiritual, mental, and physical beliefs. Nearly every culture views health as a balance between the body and spirit.
Despite that, the approaches to maintaining and promoting spiritual health often differ based on beliefs about the nature of life, death, illness, and disease. It is important to maintain a holistic approach when treating representatives of indigenous cultures. The purpose of this paper is to develop plans for healthcare maintenance, protection, and restoration based on cultural differences and similarities for three families of different cultural backgrounds.
Hispanic Family Heritage Assessment
Answers:
- Mexico
- Mexico
- I. Mexico II. Mexico III. Mexico IV. Mexico
- None
- Urban
- I. Rural II. Urban
- Born in the USA
- Father – 28, Mother – 26
- Mother and father
- a. Yes b. No c. Yes d. No
- No
- Once a year or less
- No
- Catholic
- Yes
- Yes
- Public
- No
- No
- No
- Special holidays only
- Celebrating religious holidays
- Yes
- Yes, holiday celebrations
- No
- No
- Spanish
- Prefer English
- Yes.
For this interview, a member of my own cultural group was supposed to answer a few questions. She is Hispanic, although was born in the US. Her parents migrated to the US around two decades ago. Traditions and cultural heritage run strong in the family, although the interviewee states she does not share her parents’ passion towards Hispanic culture. The standards of personal hygiene in this family are lower when compared to families of American or Non-Hispanic European origin, as her parents used to live in poverty for most of their life.
They rely on traditional and herbal medicine in order to address minor healthcare needs. The family prefers traditional cuisine filled with high-carbon and spicy foods as well as various fast foods and sugary drinks. The family trusts modern healthcare but believes it to be too expensive. Every member of the family has basic healthcare coverage.
Based on the evaluation, the family is accustomed to lower standards of health maintenance due to their history of poverty. Acquainting them with new standards and simple practices can be done during personal consultations and through patient education brochures. Diabetes presents a serious threat to the family as their diet is not healthy, and Hispanics are more susceptible to diabetes than other groups (Juckett, 2013). A suggested approach is to base their diet on the healthier alternatives of their traditional cuisine.
In treatment, it is recommended to implement Hispanic cultural values of simpatia, personalismo, respeto, and modestia in order to gain rapport with the patients (“How culture influences health beliefs,” n.d.). If possible, it is necessary to offer traditional remedies and treatments to common diseases that do not require specific medications.
European-American Family Heritage Assessment
Answers:
- USA
- USA
- I. USA II. USA III. Denmark IV. USA
- None
- Urban
- I. Urban II. Urban
- Born in the USA
- Father – born in the USA, Mother – born in the USA
- Mother and father
- a. Yes b. No c. Yes d. No
- Yes
- Monthly
- No
- Catholic
- Yes
- Yes
- Public
- No
- No
- No
- Special holidays only
- Celebrating religious holidays
- Yes
- Yes, holiday celebrations
- No
- No
- English
- Prefer English
- Yes.
This family has been living in the USA for several generations. It has become fully Americanized. Due to the closeness of European and American healthcare traditions, this family can be characterized as having high standards of personal hygiene. They do not believe in traditional medicine and address the existing healthcare system for all of their health needs. The family’s diet consists of high-carbon foods such as meat, as well as potatoes, bread, spaghetti, and small amounts of vegetables. Obesity is present among all members of the family. Every member has advanced healthcare coverage.
Due to this family being familiar and appreciative of existing standards of healthcare in the USA, no special cultural approach may be required beyond professionalism and expertise expected of nurses and doctors. Since patients do not trust traditional medicine, modern methods of treatment may be required. The family suffers from bad eating habits and obesity. It is advised to engage the family and suggest changing their diet and exercise patterns. Mediterranean diet and moderate exercise would provide a good basis for a weight loss program. As a result, it would be possible to prevent many diseases associated with European-Americans, such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and others (“How culture influences health beliefs,” n.d.).
Russian-American Family Heritage Assessment
Answers:
- Russia
- Russia
- I. Russia II. Russia III. Russia IV. Russia
- None
- Urban
- I. Urban II. Urban
- 7 years old
- Father – 27, Mother – 28
- Mother and father
- a. No b. No c. Yes d. No
- No
- Never
- No
- Orthodox
- Yes
- Yes
- Public
- No
- No
- No
- Special holidays only
- Celebrating religious holidays
- Yes
- Yes, holiday celebrations
- No
- No
- Russian
- Prefer English
- Yes.
This family consists of migrants that arrived in the USA from Russia during the 1990s. Russian healthcare system is different from that of the US in many ways in that they employ universal healthcare. Nevertheless, its quality remains subpar. The family respects its cultural heritage and maintains opinions, beliefs, and attitudes typical of many Russian migrants. They employ high standards of personal hygiene and share many resemblances with European-Americans.
Their distinctive traits are self-reliance and respect for traditional medicines – they prefer treating most diseases domestically and request medical help only when the situation calls for it (Shpilko, 2007). They have great respect for medical workers. They enjoy a healthy diet with plenty of oatmeal, chicken, and vegetables. They exercise and are in good shape. High tolerance towards alcohol, preference for spirits.
The health maintenance, protection, and restoration plan for this family should revolve around educating its members about the dangers of self-treatment practices. At the same time, the nurse should enable the patients to distinguish between diseases that could or could not be treated domestically. An emphasis should be put on natural and herbal remedies, as many Russian-Americans prefer those to pills as treatments for minor diseases such as the common cold (Shpilko, 2007). The patients should be encouraged to substitute alcohol with something healthier and keep a detox kit in case of an alcohol poisoning. Trust issues regarding the American healthcare system should be resolved with relative ease.
Conclusion
To sum it up, it is clear that the presence or absence of healthcare needs can be impacted by intercultural differences. With that in mind, the use of heritage health assessment tool is beneficial to those from culturally diverse backgrounds since it helps health professionals to plan care using their cultural competence. The use of the tool has helped to create culturally informed health maintenance plans for three families.
In case of the Hispanic family interviewed, the tool allows defining key health concerns that include diabetes and the need for personal hygiene education. As for the European-American family, the plan includes obesity treatment, the use of modern drugs, and the need for reducing heart disease risks. In reference to the third family, the results emphasize the necessity to include patient education related to alcohol abuse and self-treatment in health maintenance and disease prevention plans. Apart from that, the integration of natural medications into care plans may be required.
References
How culture influences health beliefs. (n.d.). Web.
Juckett, G. (2013). Caring for Latino patients. American Family Physician, 87(1), 48-54.
Shpilko, I. (2007). Russian-American health care: Bridging the communication gap between physicians and patients. Patient Education and Counseling, 64(3), 331-341.