Running head: Heritage Assessment

Heritage Assessment
Rose Opondo
Grand Canyon University
Date June 7, 2013

HERITAGE ASSESMENT

In this paper, the writer will look at how Personal Heritage assessment evaluates the needs of a person as a whole. By looking at the three identified families heritage assessment tools discussed below, different cultures and different traditional opinions will be brought to light. This includes health maintenance, protection and restoration. Their customs and cultures and how these items affect as a whole.

Heritage Assessment Tool can have impact on owns personal awareness when delivering health care. Heritage Cultural beliefs can described as a way in which one’s lifestyle reflects ones tribal culture. Health heritage is the value one possesses both in norms and traditional living. (Spector, 2004)
It is important to recognize the cultural background and understand how people came up with remedies of health promotion and maintenance. Heritage can be acquired through birth as a way of life, or passed on down from generation to generation. Through identification and protection, we gain understanding of one’s place in the world (Council of Europe, 2005)

America is a home of diverse cultures. (Richer & Anis, 2007)Providing culturally competent care one has to have understanding of the difference in cultures, respecting those differences, and operating within their beliefs. ((El-Amouri, 2011)A Heritage Assessment Tool helps distinguish between identified and inherited traditions. When looking at ones heritage, it is important to understand how the individual’s traditional methods helped maintain, protect, and restore health. These concepts encompass an individual’s physical, mental, and spiritual beliefs. Nurses interact with different people from different parts of the world with various cultures and traditions. Therefore, it is important to understanding different people’s cultures and traditions. Cultural awareness is important part of health assessment. This paper will describe how The Luo from Kenya, Nepalese from Nepal, India, and The Banjamwezi from Tanzania handle health issues.

Luo - Kenya In Luo culture, in the olden days, infants and children up to the age of 3 were bathed with water mixed with special medicinal herbs to keep away diseases and illness. An infant would continue to breast feed be carried by the mother everywhere she goes until they are of toddler age. During this period the toddler breastfeeds at will. The child continues to sleep with the mother in the same bed till the age of 3. During this time, no sexual relationship is had between the mother and father. It is believed that as long as the child breast feeds the mother is not expected to conceive. When a villager is or anybody ill, a traditional doctor is consulted. They would normally give the patient a mixed concoction of plants and soup made from boiled herbs. For health maintenance, milk mixed with cooked cow’s blood is used. It was believed that this would help keep teeth and bones strong for hard work. (Opondo, 2013) Hobbies are regarded as good for mental health. Luos have very close family ties. They celebrate most occasions together. The most important occasions are male initiation to adulthood through circumcision. Engagements of the girls, dowry payment, the sendoff celebration before the wedding day which took five days and then the main wedding day were also opportunities for family gatherings. Luos live together as an extended community, have strong family, religious and cultural ties. AIDS infection is regarded as negative spiritual omen to the family. Orphaned children are regarded as cursed because of death of both parents. Very few if any of the villagers are ready or willing to take them in. This explains why orphaned siblings take care of themselves.

Nepalese - India The people of Nepal who are vegetarian by nature consume mostly vegetables. Besides cooking with garlic, they chew, pound, mix it with turmeric, boil the mixture and drink it to prevent diseases. If a person is ill, a Hindu priest is consulted who takes the sick to the temple, and beseech the gods through prayer and sacrifice to casts out the illness (Pokrel, 2013)Personal Communiaction) In Nepal female education is considered unimportant. They put more emphasis on male children. Per the Informer, if a wife gives birth to girls consecutively, they are abused and sometimes killed by the mother-in-law. In Nepalese culture, the female pay dowry and offer expensive jewelry to the male on the wedding day. A Nepalese wedding celebration lasts two weeks. Inter religious marriage highly discouraged. Nepalese also have close family, religious, culture and traditional custom ties. They tend to speak the cultural traditional language.

Banyamwezi - Tanzania Tanzania has deep rooted traditional beliefs that majority of people practice. Culture and traditional belief is practiced more than the modern medicine. Even the elite are traditionally and customarily deep rooted. (Mkelele, 2013)According to their culture, any disease or illness is brought on by witchcraft. When a person becomes ill a witch doctor is consulted and a cleansing is done before some medicinal herbs are administered (CNN Inside Africa, 2013). Regarding health maintenance and prevention, they eat a lot fish, use coconut water and cream in all their dishes, plenty of spices both for all their cooking, and drinking in tea and special prepared drinks. (Mkelele, 2013)They also believe that food should contain plenty of soup for all to drink after food as desert. They wear traditional jewelry with charms sewn inside a piece of cloth, and attached to the necklace. This is meant to protect a person from illness and bad omen. The Banyamwezi are staunch Moslems believers. One unfortunate thing discovered during this interview is the high level of illiteracy among this culture. They have strong belief in traditional cultural medicine. The birth of a boy, initiation, and weddings for both male and female are celebrated by the whole community. Virginity at time of marriage marriage is still regarded as respect to the family of the girl. Female education is not encouraged. Only females from elite backgrounds are educated.

Understanding cultural guidelines will help nurses understand patients and allow them to provide the necessary health care. A nurse should understand a patient’s values and beliefs. It is important for the nurse to acquire basic knowledge of cultural values, health beliefs and practices of the group she/he is serving. Promoting positive change by building on cultural practices check for patients understanding and acceptance of recommendation. Nurse should be patient and provide care in cultural appropriate environment. helps establish good nurse/patient relationship. Courtesy and understanding of the patient’s culture helps promote positive health behavior change.

In conclusion, each case presented in this paper, can be understood if viewed through cultural health care. After the patient’s ethno cultural history is learnt, emphasis must be placed on discovering the role the heritage plays in each one’s life. (Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness). Culture may explain why a person who is bleeding refuses to take off the jewelry the are wearing due to the fact that if they remove their protection they would die. Or if a patient refuses a blood transfusion due to religious ties. Personally, I have gained insight I never had on health promotion, prevention and maintenance. Health Maintenance includes traditional beliefs and practices such as health related activities, diet, exercise, and clothing used to maintain health. Health Protection are practices carried out on special occasions for ongoing basis for health protection such as food, taboo, and body amulets. Health Restoration includes tradition beliefs and practices concerning activities such as the use of folk remedies and healers that must be used to restore health.

References
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Council of Europe. (2005). p. 8.

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Mkelele. (2013, June 3). (R. Opondo, Interviewer)

Opondo, R. (2013, June 4). Author.

Pokrel, A. (2013, June 3). Personal Communication and Questioner.

(R. Opondo, Interviewer)

Richer & Anis. (2007).

Spector. (2004).

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