Cardiovascular Diseases And Strokes And The Filipino Community

(2013). Prevalence of obesity and associated cardiovascular risk: the DARIOS study. BMC Public Health, 13(1), 1-10. Doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-542

In addition to financial constraints, lack of mobility or minimal English proficiency and tenacious adherence to their own Filipino cultural and health beliefs can create a barrier to health care utilization. “Bahala na” basically means “whatever will be, will be.” As a way of supporting good health and in responding to illness, Filipinos have this unusual ability to accept things as they are. This position enables many Filipino-Americans to accept, and endure, great suffering including suffering from illness or injury. “Hiya” refers to a deep impulse to protect against a loss of face, especially if there are differences of opinion in a group on a sensitive matter. Such protection can be for one’s own sake or for another person. One example is misunderstandings due to language barriers. Some patients may not express it openly, but feel shamed or embarrassed in front of health care providers when they cannot understand or be understood properly. Further, older Filipino-American patients have difficulty in communicating effectively with health care providers. This can turn into an urgent problem if and when Filipino-Americans suffer from a high incidence of chronic and/or serious illness (such as diabetes or TB). “Kapwa” suggests “togetherness” and equality of status regardless of class or

Anne Fadiman’s novel, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, addresses key concerns regarding health and medicinal relationships with cultural beliefs. She challenges readers to consider what is known about western medicinal practices and beliefs, based on science, and recognize its effectiveness when paired with cultural understanding. This novel portrays some of the greatest medicinal and health challenges and cultural failures of western societies. There were several cultural competency themes integrated throughout the book, however, it surprised me at how distant western practices and the Hmong’s healing methods were at the beginning. It seemed as if it would be a stretch to form a connection between these two extremities,

There are several hindrances that immigrant’s population encounter when they migrated to a new country. For sure, obtaining a good quality of health care is one of the most difficulties that the immigrants will be faced in the new country due to several reasons such as language barrier, cultural beliefs and lack of education. These elements could absolutely complicate the medical system. One of the immigrant population who began to migrate gradually to the United States in the 18th century is the Hmong. They arrived in the United States with their traditional customs. Hmong culture, in general, is entirely different from the way of life in the United States. In particularly, Hmong’s health care has completely different systems of health in the America. Their health care depends extremely on their traditional beliefs which are seeing illness as animism matter. On the other hand, the Western medical system is rationalism that means the medical system relies primarily on biomedical beliefs. As I result, the contrast between Hmong traditional beliefs and Western biomedical beliefs built a lack of understanding of both sides

Latino Americans are the largest growing population in the United Stated and with the rising number of Latinos, we have also been seeing a disparity on health care especially in heart related conditions. Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States along with strokes and Latino Americans are at higher risks for coronary heart disease which accounts for 23.9 % of all deaths in the United States and heart disease is the nation's leading cause of death among Hispanic adults. In 2015, approximately 85.6 million or more which is greater than 1 in 3 adults in the United States are diagnosed with at least one type of coronary heart disease. Hispanic Americans are 8.3 % of the total number who have been diagnosed with some kind of coronary

Public health workers from all spectrums can assist in proposed legislation and policies favoring the Latino community as well as increasing efforts for lifestyle changes leading to r4ducing risk factor such as obesity, hypertension and dietary choices. Public health programs will also look to create more strategies and interventions that promote, prolong and encourage a healthier lifestyle while living on a strained budget. In essence, acculturation and cultural lifestyle contributes to higher rates of diabetes among the Latino community.

Culture is a very important aspect for health care professionals to examine when interacting with their clients. By having an understanding of different cultural practices, a clinician can more effectively treat a patient. Kagawa-Singer, M. & Kassim-Lakha, S. (2003) theorizes that patients resist lifestyle changes, and culture forms lifestyle. Therefore, if physicians attend to the influence of culture on health behavior, outcomes of medical care might well be improved.

Approximately 1 in 6 individuals are Hispanic in the United States, and the population is expected to grow to 1 in 4 by 2035 (CDC, 2015). Given that, Hispanics are the biggest minority group in the US (CDC, 2015). The leading cause of death among the Hispanic population is heart disease and cancer responsible for around 2 out of 5 deaths (CDC, 2015). Hispanics have a 50% greater chance of death resulting from diabetes or liver disease than whites (CDC, 2015). Additionally, there are 3 times as more uninsured Hispanics than whites (CDC, 2015). According to the US average, whites are 15 years older than the Latino population, so prevention will greatly benefit the health of the Latino population (CDC, 2015).

However, due to the United States’ aging population, along with an increasing prevalence of obesity, diabetes is on the increase. Of the approximately 313 million population count in the United States, 97 million adults are overweight or obese. “Both excess body fat and physical inactivity predispose to type 2 diabetes. Several ethnic groups are particularly susceptible to Type 2 diabetes” (Scott 1134). Hispanics, blacks,

The medical conditions associated with Latinos include diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. Diabetes is a large problem for Latino communities: it affects them almost double the amount that it does non-Hispanic whites (Rodriguez, 2013). Although there is no cure for diabetes, it can be treated and controlled. A large problem with this is that 25% of Latina women do not believe there is a problem with their weight and see being overweight as “normal” while only 15% of non-Latino white women (Rodriguez, 2013). This creates an idea that since there is no problem, there is nothing to fix; Latinos believe they do not have to visit a healthcare professional to either test for diabetes or to treat it if they are aware they have the condition.

Hispanic Americans are considered the leading ethnic minority in the United States of America composing 17.4% or 55.4 million of the national population with calculations proposing an increase to 28.6% or 119 million by 2060 (Velasco-Mondragon, Jimenez, Palladino-Davis, Davis, & Escamilla-Cejudo, 2016). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2015), Hispanic Americans primarily suffer from chronic diseases processes that primarily stem from obesity and uncontrolled high blood pressure that can lead to heart disease and cancer that as a result affect other organs. A study by Kim-Godwin & McMurry

We all know someone who has suffered from heart disease. Whether it was from a heart attack, congestive heart failure, or stroke, some type of cardiovascular disease has taken the life of someone we loved way too soon. This epidemic of heart disease must be stopped through the collaboration of physicians, nurses, law makers, and concerned citizens. The purpose of this paper is to examine cardiovascular disease, the risks associated with heart disease and obesity per Milo’s framework, comparison of obesity and Healthy People 2020 national goals, and finally the long-term and short-term goals and interventions selected for this paper.

The current status of obesity in the Pacific islands are staggering according to the World Health Organization (2010), obesity prevalence ranges from more than 30% in Fiji to 80% among women in American Samoa (World Health Organization, 2010). A literature review by Davis et al. (2004) reports that on the Islands of Hawaii, more than 75% of Pacific Islanders that live on the island are obese as compared to 52% of Caucasian, 46% of Japanese, and 45%

A disparity can be defined as a difference, an inequality, a discrepancy, a gap, or an inconsistency. Within individual cultures, there are health disparities, or specific differences of a population in the existence of health outcomes, disease, health care access, and value of health care services existing across ethnic and racial groups. Disparities can stand for ineffectiveness within the system of health care and thus accounting for unnecessary costs. (Douglas and Paquiao, 2010) The Filipino culture has numerous factors leading to insufficient access to care and reduced quality of care, some of them being cultural habits concerning diet, language, and screening rates, as well as behavioral and mental health. Every culture has its own traditional beliefs and values amongst which can be shared transculturally to better international health whereas there are also those that are influenced by the Filipino culture that can be seen as non beneficial to future generations.

The Asian and American cultures’ take on health care can be compared and contrasted based on four main topics: the cause of the disease, methods of treatment, patient compliance, and dietary beliefs. Starting with the cause of the disease, many Asians believe that ailments are caused by unexplained supernatural