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Cultural Influences on Health

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Cultural Influences on Health

Grand Canyon University
Family Centered Health Promotion
NRS-429V

October 15, 2015 Cultural Influences on Health
The heritage assessment is useful and gives the health care professional a detailed picture of how cultural differences influence health. The three individuals that were interviewed place importance on the cohesiveness on their families in health and illness. The family influences from the older members in their cultures place importance on folk medicine. When a member of the family is ill, they apply their faith and pray for that person. They value their religious belief in curing an illness with modern medicine. The food preferences varied somewhat from the different cultures however, pastries were common at cultural celebrations (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). It is evident that is important to be culturally competent before assessing a patient. It removes biases about a culture and the health care professional is culturally sensitive to give effective quality care and education.
Polish Culture A large percentage of Poland’s population practices the Roman Catholicism religion. There is an order of priests, monks and nuns in the Roman Catholic Church. Rituals are part of the Catholic Church’s religious services. They encourage the continuation of folk culture like roadside shrines that are built and maintained by the community. There are yearly pilgrimages to these shrines such as Lankorona. On February 2 of each year, the Catholic priests bless a candle that is called grominica. The lighting of the candle is supposed to prevent sickness and misfortune. The rural communities perform religious practices during the crop-growing season for abundant crops. During the Christmas holiday, a corner of the house in left upswept due to the belief that there is leftover happiness in the corner. This culture is grounded in their faith and believe that prayer and rituals will heal the ill individual (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). The Polish diet consists largely of pork, bread, potatoes, and milk. There are fair amounts of nutritious foods such as beets, carrots, legumes, and cabbage that are served during meals. Foods that are high in fat such as fried Pork and smoked sausages are polish children favorite food (Stankiewicz et al., 2014, p. 14). Younger children also eat a lot of sweets and breads and as a result, there is a problem with obesity (Stankiewicz et al., 2014, p. 14). Adults from Poland believe that children will outgrow their weight problem. There is also the belief that children should eat everything served on their meal plates (Stankiewicz et al., 2014, p. 15). The Polish holiday celebrations also incorporate fatty meats, cakes, and cookies. In addition, exercise is not encouraged for the youth of Poland. This has contributed to the problem with obesity. Heart related diseases are prevalent in this culture (Stankiewicz et al., 2014, p. 13). People that are ill use folk medicine and seek medical care from a physician. Herbal medicine is not used as much as it was in the past (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). There is more reliance on current medical practices. Society members that can afford health care are able to see physicians in private practice. Citizens that are at poverty level rely on the government for health care. The health care provided is substandard and not subsidized well by the Polish government (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). The health care professional has a good understanding on how to form an appropriate teaching plan with the patient’s cultural background.
Romanian Culture The main religious preference in Romania is Romanian Orthodox ("Romania Country Review," 2014, p. 135). The individual that was interviewed practices the Roman Catholic religion. The Romania Catholic church celebrates different seasons of the year with festivals. Families attend church services together and have close relationships with their extended family. If a family member is sick, they have the priest pray for them at the church. They have a strong belief system rooted in their religious beliefs and believe that prayer to will heal the children wear costumes heir family member ("Romania Country Review," 2014, p. 142). Christmas is a favorite time of the year for Romanians. On the night before Christmas, the children wear costumes and sing traditional songs to bring good luck (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). The family and relatives meet together for a large feast. Easter is another religious holiday that begins on Palm Sunday and amends are made by practicing Lent. When the period of practicing Lent is over Easter is celebrated. The children color Easter eggs and the family celebrates with a many different food dishes and relatives. In addition, during ceremony celebrations (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). The typical Romanian diet consists of grilled sausage, cabbage soup, lamb soup, and vegetables. Desserts such as baklava and placinte, which is a pie, are the most favored sweets to eat after dinner (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). Obesity is not an issue in Romania because most of the meats consumed are low in fat and the diet is high in vegetables. There remains a problem with heart disease, excessive alcohol intake and AIDS ("Romania Country Review," 2014, p. 152). The members of society that can afford health care make up a smaller percentage of the population. Herbal remedies are used to try to cure illness (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). There are problems with unemployment and poverty in Romania. The government offers health care programs that are not adequately treating the health care issues of the public (Boyd, 2008, p. 160). There is very little health prevention or education taught in Romania due to a lack of monies put into the public health care system (Boyd, 2008, p. 160).. Prayer, herbal remedies, and medical care if it is available are used to maintain health and cure illness (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015).
Latino Culture The Latino culture has a high percentage of their community that is Catholic (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). There is a large emphasis on the family being a cohesive unit. The older Latino generation believe that a large family is a sign of good health (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). The families attend church and religious holidays together. Christmas is an important holiday celebrated by the Latino culture (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). There are family members that join to exchange presents and enjoy several dishes of homemade food. This cultures faith is strong and they rely on their strength of their spirituality to help them through an illness (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). Several Latino people believe that if there is an imbalance in spirituality the person will be punished by acquiring an illness (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle, 2014, p. 30). Another belief is that if a person has had a stressful incident that induces strong emotions they will use herbal remedies and call a spiritualist to heal the person (Edelman et al., 2014, p. 30). There are some fun festive traditions in the Latino culture. The Quinceanera is a celebration for a girl that is fifteen and it signifies her right of passage into womanhood (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). The girl dresses in a formal colorful gown and there is dancing and an abundance of traditional Latino dishes. Cinco de Mayo is observed on May 5 to celebrate the Mexican victory over the French army (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). This celebration includes a consumption of large amounts of alcoholic beverages and traditional Latino foods (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). The diet Latino eat is high in saturated and low in nutritional value (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). This is largely due to the prevalence of poverty in the Latino population. The foods that are consumed are meats that are high in saturated fats and snacks that are high in carbohydrates with little nutritional value (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). Healthcare needs are addressed with prayer for the ill family member (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015). Herbal remedies and modern medicine are used together to improve the healing process (Edelman et al., 2014, p. 31). Members of the community that have health insurance will see a medical practitioner to treat illness or chronic health care issues (Heritage Assessment Tool, 2015).
Conclusion
In order to be culturally sensitive it necessary to have knowledge of a patients specific culture. An understanding of their value and belief systems will help eliminate caregiver biases and improve communication between the patient and nurse. With community, health care being the focus to eliminate health disparities nurses will be prepared to make a difference by offering culturally competent care. References
. [Special issue]. (2014). Romania Country Review. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=99004269&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Boyd, C. (2008). Poverty and health care in the context of Romanian postcommunism (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/docview/304683335/fulltextPDF/embedded/EVP24CNU5Y6B7NY5?source=fedsrch
Edelman, C. L., Kudzma, E. C., & Mandle, C. L. (2014). Emerging Populations and Health. In Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span (8 ed., pp. 22-42). [Elsevier]. Retrieved from https://pageburstls.elsevier.com/#/books/978-0-323-09141-1/pages/269798399
Heritage Assessment Tool [Heritage Assessment Tool]. (2015)
Stankiewicz, M., Pieszko, M., Sliwinska, A., Malgorzewicz, S., Wierucki, U., Zdrojewsli, T., & Wyrzkowski, B. (2014). Obesity and diet awareness among Polish children and adolescents in small towns and villages. Central Eurpoean Journal of Public Health, 22(1), 12-16. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=103947504&site=ehost-live&scope=site

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