Heritage and Health

November 10, 2012

Heritage and Health
Three families one each being of Caucasian, Hispanic and Thai cultures have been explored using the Health Assessment Tool. This paper compares health traditions of these families of different cultures and discusses how understanding an individual’s culture leads to better relationships which allow health maintenance and promotion to be more effective.
Let us start by defining key terms essential to this paper. Culture is the values and beliefs specific to a group or population and is an element of ethnicity. Ethnicity is “a reference to a collective identity, a sense of uniqueness within the larger society and a distinction from non- members” (Edelman, 2010). Values and beliefs influence our behavior and our actions and by knowing what influences a culture and recognizing an individual’s particular culture will help guide health maintenance and promotion. The National Alliance for Hispanics Health stated in 2004 that the longer a generation is in this country the further away they get from their own culture (CDC's Health Community Program). Therefore, by using the Heritage Assessment Tool a nurse is able to understand where a person’s heritage begins and how the person identifies with their heritage. As an example, this tool can help identify if a client belongs to a religious institution, in which, they may want to have access for support. If they are not an active member or are in need of spiritual comforting a Chaplin’s visit may be appropriate. In interviews the Thai family practices Hinduism and the Caucasian and the Hispanic families practice Christianity. The heritage tool also assesses an individual’s contact with family, giving insight to the support they will or won’t receive due to the number of family members’ availability and the degree of closeness. Language is another aspect of the Heritage Assessment Tool, because learning and understanding information is accomplished best in an individual’s native language. Asking what language they like to speak and read in will enhance their learning capabilities. An individual that was interviewed from the Thai culture preferred speaking Thai but wanted to read in English. Using a translator device or recognized person to translate material would help this learning process. There is also a website called healthinfotranslations.com that is helpful in providing information and after care instructions in many different languages (Health information translation: Quality healthcare information for diverse populations, 2012). Food preferences can also be determined with the Heritage Assessment Tool giving the evaluator an idea of education that may be needed or the ability to offer special food. For instance, Hispanic and Thai foods are traditionally considered spicier than Caucasian foods. Furthermore, encouraging family and friends to assist with any food preparation to comply with restrictions is an added value to the client.
All three of these cultures suffer from cardiovascular disease with deaths from ischemic heart disease being the highest in both Hispanic and Caucasian races and stroke being the highest in Thailand. It was also discovered that cancer is the second highest cause of death in all three families’ cultures. Lung cancer was highest in Hispanics and Caucasians, whereas, liver cancer was the highest for Thai cultures. The third leading cause of death in Hispanics from Mexico is diabetes and infections for Thailand and in the U.S. it is respiratory diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma. According to the World Health Organization, life expectancy for Caucasians is highest in these cultures with the male average age of 76 and 81 for women and Thai has the lowest with the male average life expectancy at 66 and women at 74 (WHO, 2011). However, an article from the CDC states that Hispanics live longer than Caucasians by approximately a year for both sexes (CDC's Health Community Program).
Accessing health care is different in these three cultures. The Caucasian readily accepts and seeks Western Medicine, while Hispanic and Thai families have a slightly different approach. They will first seek advice from elders and other family members. The Thai will care for themselves with oils, herbs, foods and prayer. The Hispanic family will seek home remedies, like herbal teas and due to family financial constraints are less likely than the Thai family to seek care until unavoidable. Hispanic families often look to the male of the house for approval in seeking care. However, the Hispanic family interviewed is divorced, which goes against the history of their culture. According to a 2008 survey the Mexican divorce rate was only 6.9% (CDC's Health Community Program). The three cultures interviewed contribute good health to learned habits, such as, being non-smokers, physically active, and socially engaged. The Thai family was the most disciplined with exercise and a healthy diet. By comparison, healthy diets are a struggle for both the Caucasian and the Hispanic family in the U.S. This is also manifested in homelands, where Thailand’s percentage of obesity is lower than that of Mexico and the U.S. Obesity for Thai men was 4.9% and women 11.8% in 2008. Mexico’s obesity rate for males is 26.7% and for women 38.4% and in the U.S. obesity among men is 30% and 32% for women (WHO, 2011). However, for these families, colds were the only illnesses that affect their health today and all used cold medicines and rest for recovery. In some Hispanic cultures they believe that illness can be associated with eating the wrong foods. Having an imbalance of foods that are considered “hot” and “cold” can influence health (CDC's Health Community Program). Homeopathic remedies common in the Thai culture are increasing in the U.S., such as, acupuncture, meditation, therapeutic touch, and massage (Edelman, 2010).
The Health Assessment Tool gives insight into cultural heritages of clients and lends to further discussion to aid in health promotion. This assessment tool gives the evaluator an idea of the clients connection to their heritage or if their time living in the U.S. has brought acculturation, severing them from their homeland approach to their lifestyles here in the U.S. This was observed in these interviews, where the Hispanic family has been in the States for three generations and the Caucasian family has been in the U.S. for four to six generations, the Thai family has only been in the States for 40 years and have been met with ethnocentric attitudes keeping them separated from American cultures. Sadly, this shows the need for more understanding and knowledge of other cultures and by using the Health Assessment Tool to gain information in a factual and respectful manner it will help to recognize potential learning needs and preferences to learning.

References
Health information translation: Quality healthcare information for diverse populations. (2012). Retrieved November 10, 2012, from Health Information Translation: https://www.healthinfotranslations.org/
CDC's Health Community Program. (n.d.). Creating a culture of healthy living. Retrieved November 10, 2012, from: http://www.cdc.gov/healthycommunitiesprogram/tools/pdf/hispanic_latinos_insight.pdf
Edelman, M. (2010). Health promotion throughout the life span. St Louis: Mosby, Inc., an affiliate of Elsevier Inc.
World Health Organization. (2011). Measurement and health information. Retrieved from:

http://www.who.int/.../global_burden_disease_death_estimates_sex_2008.x...

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World Health Organization. (2011). World health statistics 2011. WHO Press. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS2011_Full.pdf