The article I chose is about a 69-year-old immigrant man from Iran, named Farhad Tabrizi. Mr. Tabrizi went to the Emergency Room because he was coughing up blood, had severe chest pain along with various other symptoms. After the ER admitted him and continue to conduct various tests to determine the problem, hospital staff worked on gathering Mr.Tabrizi’s medical history. This proved difficult to do because he didn’t speak any English only fluent Farsi. His son who accompanied him spoke reasonably fluent English and Farsi so the medical staff tried to get as much medical history out of the son when he was around, but his visits were often unpredictable and Mr. Tabrizi seemed to get uncomfortable giving out information about his family and their medical backgrounds. He also refused to eat any of the food the hospital provided to him. His son explained that he feared the food may have hidden pork bi-products and decided it was safer to just not eat the food. The medical staff told Mr. Tabriazi son that they spoke to the chief and made sure his food was prepared without any pork by-products and that they respected his religious beliefs and would make certain it was prepared in a way that he wished. Even with that said, Mr Tabrizi’s wife continued to bring in food from outside the hospital on her visits for him to eat. After three days of staying at the hospital, the results from the tests come back. The doctor sits down with Mr. Tabrizi, his son, and his wife. The doctor asks
Discriminatory practice in health and social care happens for many reasons including some important factors that are normally the cause of discriminatory practice for example a person may be discriminated against because on the basis of their diversity. One important discriminatory practice is because of culture. A person’s Culture is important to them and identifies who they are in the world. It is developed within the social group they are raised in, and can change when they are mature enough to decide for their selves what culture best suit them. In addition respecting a person’s culture is
Health in all cultures is an important aspect of life. A person’s cultural background, religion and/or beliefs, greatly influences a person’s health and their response to medical care (Spector, 2004). These diverse cultures guide decisions made in daily life; what food eaten, living arrangements made, medications taken and medical advice listened to. A nurse must be knowledgeable and respectful of these diverse cultures and understand their importance when providing care. This understanding helps to build a strong nurse/patient relationship, increasing patient compliance, which ensures positive outcomes are met. Patients who are satisfied
Within an old person there could be a Muslim who can only eat halal meat the chefs must make sure there is a different menu for the lady and anyone who can’t eat pork.
Both articles express how important it is to be culturally self-aware and in touch with your personal beliefs, views, and morals. If you aren’t aware of what your cultural beliefs are you won’t be able to provide you patients with the cultural care and respect that they require in their recovery to become healthy again. In addition, the two articles (Newson 2009, Byrson 2012) both talk about how important it is to be open minded with people who may have a different opinions and views on certain things. If you aren’t open to treating you patients in the cultural way that they want to be treated, your patient will feel disrespected and unimportant. Therefore, their health will suffer because of your incompetence to accommodate their cultural needs. A nurse needs to be culturally self-aware, they need to know what their own personal views are first so they can understand that not everyone’s views will be the same. This means they need to be capable of being open and accepting to other people’s cultural wants and needs. By being these two things you will be able to provide people of all cultures with the respect and treatment they
Many years ago, an epileptic Hmong girl named Lia Lee entered a permanent vegetative state due to cross-cultural misunderstanding between her parents and her doctors. An author named Anne Fadiman documented this case and tried to untangle what exactly went wrong with the situation. Two key players in her narrative were Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp, the main doctors on Lia’s case. As Fadiman describes, “Neil and Peggy liked the Hmong, too, but they did not love them… [W]henever a patient crossed the compliance line, thus sabotaging their ability to be optimally effective doctors, cultural diversity ceased being a delicious spice and became a disagreeable obstacle.” (Fadiman 265) At first glance, this statement seems to implicate Neil and Peggy as morally blameworthy for a failure to be culturally sensitive enough. However, upon further inspection of the rest of the book, it becomes clear that Neil and Peggy’s failure to be more culturally sensitive to their Hmong patients was caused by structural issues in the American biomedical system. To prove this point, this paper will first present a background to Lia’s case, then discuss possibilities for assigning blame to Neil and Peggy, then show evidence for the structural issues in American biomedicine, before finally concluding.
The case study of Lia Lee is interesting and serves as a cautionary tale as it explores the consequences of cultural misunderstanding. In this case both the parents and medical staff sought the same thing; they both wanted Lia to have a positive outcome. Unfortunately, both groups had distinct ideas regarding how to achieve the common objective. This division was rooted in each sides individual cultural beliefs.
A vital foundation for a high-quality care delivery is an efficacious communication between the patient and the healthcare providers (Gengler & Jarrell, 2015). Fadiman (1997) recounted the conflict between a refugee family from Laos and a small hospital in California over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl with severe epilepsy, in her book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Despite both sides wanting the best care for Lia, the lack of cross-cultural communication between her Hmong family and her American doctors, lead to her tragedy (Fadiman, 1997). Awareness regarding the disparities in culture and language of our patient with ours and how to address them should be taken into account when providing healthcare since the life of a
Fadiman confronts another interviewing barrier when she works with the medical staff of Merced County Medical Center, the hospital where Lia Lee was taken and treated many times. Fadiman constantly reviewed Lia’s medical records, as well as consulted and interviewed many of the physicians and nurses who worked with Lia and her family. Fadiman had to alter her interviewing style and the way in which she planned the interviews while interviewing the staff of Merced County Medical Center. These individuals did not require an interpreter because they were native English speakers. Because of this, Fadiman had an easier time communicating with the interviewees, but had to remember the culture they were used to. The resident doctors and nurses Fadiman was discussing Lia’s case with worked at the Family Practice Residency, which receives most of its payment through government programs like Medi-Cal or Medicare (Fadiman 1997:24). Because of this, most patients this staff was used to seeing were low-income, and
According to the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA, 1990, c. C.11, s. 105 (2)), Amina’s Right to Care was violated and she was declined of the following amendments: to receive meals that are well-balanced, of good quality and appropriate for the child; to receive medical care whenever required and; to receive an appropriate education. In her stay at the Oak House, Amina didn’t receive meals that were ‘appropriate’ for her, which was a direct violation of her Right. As an identified Muslim, this situation was a violation because despite complaining to staff that she couldn’t eat the pizza with bacon, staff did not take the necessary steps to provide a well-balanced alternative meal in order to ensure she wouldn’t go hungry. Also, as part of her punishment for disobeying house rules, the staff at Oak House cancelled her doctor’s appointment and forbade her from attending school. The CFSA highlights the importance of receiving medical care when required and
It is difficult enough to go to the emergency ward with a family member and speak the same language as the staff. The admitting nurse wants all insurance information, another nurse/secretary asks for injury/illness history and, meanwhile, the person who needs to see the doctor is waiting in pain. The stress mounts and communication becomes harder. Now, take that same scenario when someone in the ER does not speak the language or know the culture of the patient. It not only severely complicates the process, but endangers the person needing the care. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is the tragedy about three-month-old Lia Lee, from Laos, who unfortunately was one of these
In today’s society, it is very important for the healthcare professional to be educated about the culture of their patients. It can be seen that the number of patients who are Muslim are increasing throughout the healthcare system. It is challenging for healthcare workers to care for the needs of Muslim patients when they don’t understand their cultural beliefs. Muslims don’t necessarily have the same health beliefs, outcomes, or priorities that their providers have, therefore making it more difficult to come to a final healthcare decision (Al-Oraibi, 2009.) “This intercultural gap in understanding between clients and providers may result in poor care services and low levels of satisfaction” (Al-Oraibi, 2009.) Muslims are
I have come to the conclusion that if an individual wants to work in healthcare they must respect cultural differences of all patients they come in contact with. Outside of the burns, Marie is in wonderful condition; she is healthy, well feed and thriving. Before noting the burns, Linda would consider Mrs. Saeto as a truly caring and compassionate parent, and it is further validated by her desire to make Marie healthy; although by means that are highly scrutinized practices in the American culture. It would be my recommendation to talk with Mrs. Saeto about her curing practices and suggest alternatives in modern medicine that would provide less harm to the child; all while remaining culturally sensitivity to Mrs. Saeto. The last thing Linda needs is Mrs. Saeto to feel disrespected as a patient by rejecting her culture and way of life. And it is not within Linda’s power to force someone to assimilate to the American way of life. Keep in mind, Mrs. Saeto already
For my module 1 case, I am tasked to review the case of Lanesha Johnsons and answer the following questions; from a cultural perspective, is it unusual that Grandmother Marietta is the primary caregiver? Discuss the ways in which Lanesha, Grandma Marietta, and Hannah Healthcare approach this situation from totally different perspectives. How does Lanesha 's temperament affect the situation? What responsibilities do health care providers have in this situation? The case regarding Lanesha Johnson is both frustrating and eye opening, because it seems that the resolution to this case is so easy, but when you look at it through the lens of cultural barriers, the situation because much more murky. Let’s address the first barrier, Marietta as the primary caregiver.
The doctor and his patient portray a troubled encounter that is subject to discussion. This short story reflects real or plausible issues comparable in real life. One example of such an event in Brooklyn when a construction worker filed a lawsuit against a hospital for subjecting him to a rectal exam against his wishes. According to his lawyer, the man begged,”please don’t do that’’ as he was held down, and he punched one of the doctors before being sedated and examined without consent. As a result the man allegedly developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the experience.(Tsai,1) Given to the poor man’s circumstance and how the medical professionals treated him, you can now see how unfit doctors can be to their own patients.
The emergence of the Islamic Republic in late 1970’s Iran demonstrates how middle class Iranian people purged themselves of the Pahlavi Dynasty in an effort to continue down a more righteous and egalitarian path. As a result, the country underwent a complete social upheaval and in its place grew an overtly oppressive regime based in theoretical omnipotence. In response to this regime, the very structure of political and social life was shaken and fundamentally transformed as religion and politics became inexorable. As a result, gender roles and the battle between public and private life were redrawn. Using various primary and secondary sources I will show how the Revolution shaped secular middle class Iranians. Further, I will show how the