China, A Home And Folk Remedy

When caring for Taoist’s patients, the most important thing to remember is their need to restore balance. For them, this may not be achieved through traditional medical practice; however, this does not mean that we should do nothing. Taoists do not believe in artificial or arbitrary healing. Healing must be natural and spontaneous (Tai, 2009). If we try to force medical treatments on them, it may in turn do more harm than good and cause great suffering. Taoists see artificial treatment as a source of evil; however, if the treatment follows the flow of Tao, it is regarded as natural and therefore allowed (Tai, 2009). For example, if a Taoist patient is in need of mechanical ventilation to sustain life, it is no longer natural. The only way to natural care for that patient, without disrupting the Tao, is to provide palliative care and ultimately let the

Medicine within the Chinese culture is often being used to cure sickness and infection and to raise the forte of the frail and elder people (Purnell, 2013).

The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine by Ted J. Kaptchuk is a non-fiction book describing the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine and how it compares to Western medicine. This book does not focus on a specific time period or regions where Chinese medicine is practiced. Rather, it centers on the logic behind Chinese medicine. After studying Chinese medicine in Macao, Ted Kaptchuk returned to America and realized that he could not abandon what he learned just because it was different from Western medicine. Chinese medicine is over two thousand years old and textbooks have dated back to the Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.-220 C.E). These texts will continue to adapt, just as traditions adapt over time. Chinese medicine is still

In Chinese culture, health and illness concentrates on the balance between body, mind, and spirit, expressed as Yin Yang. It symbolizes the idea that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. There is a belief in part of the Chinese culture, that a physical illness is caused by an imbalance of Yin Yang.

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.

Asians believe in traditional remedies for health restoration, such as acupuncture, cupping, massage, and herbal remedies (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). The author’s family was interviewed for the Asian Heritage Assessment. The author’s family subscribes to use of daily exercise, acupuncture, massage, and some herbal remedies. The author’s mother wears jade, and balances the components of her meals, whereas her children are Americanized and do not. The author’s mother uses ginger and various other roots and herbs, whereas her children use roots like ginger for flavoring.

This individual/family reports that she regularly speaks to her family in Taiwan via Skype, Facebook and cell phone. She grew up as a Buddhist but does not attend any religious services on a regular basis but does admit to occasionally meditating. Meditating is a central Buddhist practice; it is a “form of mental concentration that leads to enlightenment and spiritual freedom.” (religionfacts.com). Although this individual didn’t fully scribe to traditional beliefs on health and illness, she did give a few insights to the interviewer. Reputations are very important to Asians, being embarrassed or having something personal told to an outsider is a huge deal. Confidentiality is very important and medical-health issues are not discussed with outsiders. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [cdc], n.d., ∂ 4)). Asian culture beliefs include the mind-body-spirit balance or yin and yang.” Yin and Yang are dynamic and complementary, not oppositional forces, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, one can’t exist without the other and imbalance leads to illness.” (cdc,n.d). Traditional types of Chinese medicine include herbs, massage and acupuncture and acupressure; these remedies offer preventative and restorative properties. Acupressure is believed to “manipulate the flow of energy or Qi”; it is believed to be both preventative and restorative. (acupuncture benefits). In addressing health protection, promotion and restoration, this

The third interview conducted was with a Chinese family (The Wang’s). The Wang family consists of the parents and 2 children that all play an active role in Buddhism. The Wang’s were all born in Chengdu, China and migrated to the United States 5 years ago. The Wang’s primary language is Mandarin. The father and two children also speak English. The Wang family doesn’t communicate much with their extended family. All extended family still reside in Chengdu, China. The Wang family is very private when dealing with or talking about their health. They express no current health concerns. The Wang family maintains good health through eating healthy; they eat large amounts of vegetables rice and fish. The Wang family uses health protection by positive thinking, and meditation. The Wang’s also state that they see a physician on a regular basis for check ups. As far as interviewing The Wang’s it was difficult to obtain specific information on their past or current health beliefs. The Wang’s appeared to be a private family (Wang, 2013).

In contrast to stoicism and Buddhism, Confucianism mostly focuses on the collectivism and familism. It makes people find solution to their problems by themselves. Whether it is a physical or psychological distress, it should be solved by the help of family members (Jin, 2017, pg. 37) Therefore, Chinese people considered that if they seek help from outside of the family it should be a loss of face for them. They think it is better not to bother others rather than facing challenges with in your emotions. By doing this, pain assessments of Chinese people are always inaccurate (Jin, 2017, pg. 38). As discussed above the ethnic background of Chinese culture and pain; there is some

As the oldest source of early Chinese 
 medicine theory, the Nei Jing has naturally undergone many centuries of interpretations and 
 revisions from later thinkers and Chinese physician-authors since its inception back in the Han

Mental health—and the stigma that comes along with it—is a very important issue, one of global importance. Shah and Beinecke explain that 450 to 500 million people suffer from mental illnesses (15). Just considering the amount of people who suffer from mental illness is enough to prove that this is a global issue. Despite the large amounts of people who are affected by mental illness, only one third of countries have some sort of program to help (15). This shows the lack of concern for those who suffer from mental illness. Stereotypes affect many people, and those with mental illness are no exception. Everyone has their own preconceived perspectives and notions of mental health, and many of them are uninformed and unjustified. It is up to us to start changing our viewpoints on mental health.

People of the Chinese culture have many different beliefs and practices of medicine and healthcare. It is extremely important for nurses to be culturally competent and to be able to understand different practices and beliefs of different cultures to ensure that they are providing the best care and making their patients as comfortable as possible. According to Shih-Yu Lee, ritual is defined as “a social essential collective activity within a culture,” it is also well recognized that culture and ritual plays a fundamental role in “defining, sensing the health and illness, and searching help for problems” (Shih-Yu, Shu-Ling, and Yu-O, 2013). There are many rituals and beliefs of traditional Chinese medicine that are crucial to understand, the

This article, Eating Chinese Medicine by Judith Farquhar is a piece about traditional Chinese medicine in the 1970s-1980s. In the opening, Farquhar introduces Zhu Ziye who sat in his room all day and was waited on. He was brought food, tea and whatever else he desired. Zhu believed eating was an art and that digesting it was just as important. He believes he needed to focus all of his energy into eating and digesting.

The complex structure and foreign nature of Tibetan medicine makes it difficult to relate its practices to Western medicine, making it difficult to determine the clinical efficacy of Eastern medical practice. Several clinical analysis studies have recently been performed in order to determine the efficacy of the “holistic” practices of Eastern cultures. Whether the studies show Eastern or Western practices to be more effective, I believe that the most effective treatment should be a combination of both practices.

Traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, is one of the oldest systems of medicine to exist among humans, and it is extremely prominent to this day. According to legend, the system has been in use since the third millennium BCE. The views of such an old system differ greatly from those found in modern western medicine. Perhaps most prominent is the fact that TCM focuses more on the patient than the illness. The system considers the human to be a microcosm of the universe, implying that the body is affected by the traditional Taoist forces of yin and yang, the five elements, and Qi in the same way the cosmos are. Each of these forces act upon the “zang fu,” or organ system, directly influencing a patient’s health. Healers use qigong to assist in the restoration of stability in the body. Achieving balance, both internally and externally, is the most important aspect of healing in TCM.