Heritage Assessment Essay

The culture of a person can change the way one views different aspects in life. Medical professionals are not exempt from this. Patients may be treated by one medical professional differently than they would be treated by the next just based on the culture the medical professional grew up in. This paper will examine the usefulness of applying the heritage assessment tool in evaluating the needs of the whole person. This author’s family and two other families have been interviewed and in this paper it will be explained how the cultures differ from one another, as well as showing many similarities regarding ones view on healthcare. Healthcare in America has changed drastically over the years. One reason for this is the recent trend in immigration and migration to the United States. With this, the United States is experiencing many different cultures that bring different values and beliefs. This brings a challenge to healthcare professionals as they attempt to care for patients a s individuals. The heritage assessment tool is a list of 29 questions that can be asked regarding family, religion, traditions, demographics and food choices. The more positive answers one gives the greater the person’s identification with traditional heritage is. This tool is unique due to the fact that unless you are siblings no two people’s answers will be the same. The questions are the same but the answers are individual. This assessment tool was beneficial when interviewing these families because it helped the interviewer to see how ones heritage sways their values and beliefs and their outlook on the importance of health care. Using this tool also shows the uniqueness of different cultures and how beliefs are passes from generation to generation. Another interesting thing the assessment tool does is that it shows interesting similarities between people from different cultures as well. The heritage assessment was used in analyzing the writer’s heritage and all 29 questions were answered with mostly positive answers. This writer’s family has high expectations regarding their healthcare. Modern medicine is the choice for this family and healthcare is very important to them. Yearly checkups with a primary care provider are sought out. Healthcare is paid for using an insurance health plan and cash to cover deductibles. However, this family’s heritage also includes some older home remedies. The elders used to believe that if you had fever they could use rubbing alcohol and bath you in it and it would make the fever go away. This culture also believes you should avoid chocolate to prevent acne. There is also a belief that eating carrots could make your eyesight better. These wives tales have been passed from generation to generation. The preferred food for this family was red meats and the only common health problem appeared to be hypertension. The second family assessed came to the United States as migrant workers in the early 1960’s from Mexico and started having a family here and have been In the United States since. This family also had mostly positive results on the assessment tool. This family has high beliefs in preserving their ancestor’s traditions. This family did report that due to finances modern medical treatment was not of great importance to them. This family reported that being of lower income they had to use what they call a Curandera( witch doctor) for medical purposes. The Curandera is trusted in the Mexican culture to give healthcare advice and remedies. This family prefers using the Curandera for reason such as being in the states illegally and they feared being turned in if they went to modern medical clinics. The heritage of the Mexicans also has many home rituals that are bel ieved to work besides medicine. This culture uses candle burning for healing purposes. The fat from a cow’s udder is also used for killing pain according to this family. The diet of the Mexican culture is high in fat. This culture also believes in the â€Å"evil eye† and believes that this can cause illness or curses and they were black charms to keep this evil away. One common health problem this family reported was a trend with diabetes. The third person interviewed immigrated to America in 1969 from Greece. This family came to America Due to military purposes. The woman interviewed explained that she grew up in Athens Greece and that family and the Greek culture is very important to them. This person also reported that teaching her children to speak Greek even though they grew up in the US was a must. The woman interviewed, explained that health care is very important to the Greek culture. She stated that there is free health care for the poor. Some people have private insurance, but she talked of her family being farmers and they paid into a private insurance once a year that covered anything medical that they needed. She reports that they get a book and all their medical treatments and illnesses are kept in this book. According to the woman interviewed many people in this culture also turn to a witch doctor for health care treatment and advice. This culture also believes in the evil eye; however this family report wearing a blue eye, or gem around their neck or on a bracelet to protect them from the evil This family reports that one of their favorite staples is lamb. There are many things learned from a person’s heritage that affect the way we think of others and of health care needs. Being aware of the differences in cultures may help medical professionals to provide better quality healthcare. Reference Edelman, C. L. (2010). Emerging Populations and Health. In Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span. Healthy People 2010 (2009). Goal 2: Eliminate Health Disparities. Retrieved on October 5, 2012 from http://healthypeople.gov/data/midcourse/html/exesummary/Goal2.htm Spector, R. E.(2009). Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness (7thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,Inc.