Hispanic Research Paper

In the Dominican culture, when it comes to illness and health, there is no real explanation as to why people get sick. Some believe illness is caused by natural factors such as a dysfunction in the body; others believe illness is due to supernatural causes such as punishment from evil ancestral spirits or somebody sends the evil spirits after them to harm them. When asked about views of health and illness, she stated that most Dominicans interpret health as being up, active and not being in bed where one is unable to take care of his or her self. Many Dominicans believe that if you are not in bed, therefore you are healthy. Many Dominicans believe in folk practice to promote health, for example: a problems that are seen as natural and spiritual are treated with prayer and ritual. Problems that are believed to be supernatural are treated with the help of a witch, healer, or a voodoo priest. For instance, the Catholics practice Spiritism and Santeria by praying the saints to grant them favors and heal them. Some may consult a healer who usually enters in contact with the saint spiritually to ask the saints

In the Mexican culture treats physical and mental illnesses as one. They consider emotional, spiritual, social and physical factors are contributors to disease (Santana & Santa, 2005). These illness measures as a social crisis affect the entire group.

The Hispanic community in the largest minority in the USA and the fastest growing, it is also one with a high incidence of preventable diseases such as Diabetes, periodontitis, colorectal cancer and HIV. Obesity and teen age pregnancy are significantly more prevalent in Hispanic/Latino population as well. Rate of vaccination is also below that of the majority of the population. Addressing their health care makes good public health and economic sense.

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the United States, and the majority of them are Mexican in origin (Kemp, 2001). The Roman Catholic Church plays a vital role in the culture and daily life of many Mexican Americans. Consequently, healthcare personnel must become culturally competent in dealing with the different beliefs possessed by these individuals. Nurses must have the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver care that is congruent with the patient’s cultural beliefs and practices (Kearney-Nunnery, 2010). The ways that a nurse cares for a Mexican American patient during the process of dying or at the critical time of death is especially important. The purpose of this paper is to examine

Faith and church are very much central to family and community life and play an important role in understanding illnesses and healing. In a recent survey, 78% of Hispanics believed they had diabetes because it was God’s will and that God could control their disease (Cabellero, 2011). Some Hispanics view good health as a reward for good behavior or good luck while illnesses are thought to have either natural or supernatural causes (Centers for Disease Control, n.d). Hispanics believe that physical and mental illness is caused by imbalance between a person and the environment. It is expressed as either “hot” and “cold” or “wet” and “dry”.

Remarkably just like any health care professionals, traditional healers in Latin America also have their own specializations and areas of practice. While some have very narrow and specific areas, such are herbalists or midwives for example; others often have been trained in various specialties and can provide the “full package care” (Trotter & Chavira, 1997). Regardless of the specialty every traditional healer always considers the illness as a complex manifestation of problems in physical, emotional and spiritual planes.

Guerrero’s family both traditional beliefs and more medically based health care are practiced/utilized. When Dr. Guerrero was a child she had asthma, and was not effectively treated by the traditional medical treatments, so her mother sought out care from another family member and used a more traditional Chilean remedy. Her mother took a bladder of a sheep, added Dr. G’s urine, put it in the attic and allowed it to dry. Once it dried it was supposed to clear up her asthma. Dr. G’s asthma eventually got better, but as to whether the bladder helped or the traditional Chilean remedy helped, one does not know, Dr. G was unsure.

Art and Religion are utilized by Haitian culture for healing and survive in the Caribbean communities (Davis, Paravisini-Gebert, & Fernandez Olmos, 2004). “Healing Cultures is more self-consciously pan-Caribbean in scope, sensitive not only to the region's historical intersections, but also taking into account the ways in which cultures rely on each other and are reinterpreted across borders” (Davis et al., 2004, p. 1). The term “Healing Arts” is used to explain the cures utilized by Haitian culture for healing of illness that are physical, psychological and even spiritual (Davis et al., 2004). For instance the use vodou practices. Haitian vodou functions in the following way: “offers a cultural construction of illness, provides elements

In order to cleanse the body, the Mayans place a heavy value on dualities comparatively like hot and cold, the pixàn and ool forces, and the right and left side of the body. The balance of hot and cold as it relates to body temperature and illnesses is highly regulated in Mayan medical traditions. Since the disturbance of this equilibrium is considered the most common cause of illness, Mayans have developed a system of recognizing ailments as “cold” or “hot.” If a condition is considered “hot”, i.e. pregnancy or drunkenness, treatment will avoid cold medicines and foods because the mixture of temperatures will cause further illness (Garcia et al., 1999). The Mayan conception of this symmetry narrows their focus on medicine as “hot” or “cold” rather than based on a medicine’s chemical components (Garcia et al.,

The optimal health is equally important in every culture, but the reaction towards situation requiring decision-making about health can be different in every culture. Muslim receives illness and death with patience and prayers. They consider illness as punishment for their sins. They also consider death as a part of a journey to meet God. However, they are strongly encouraged to seek medical help when required. The concept of health maintenance has a significant importance in Islam; there are some foods that are not permit like pork and alcohol. Cleanliness has a high importance. Circumcision of male infant is recommended. ("," October, 17th 2012) Where as, in Hispanic and Mexican culture health maintenance is supported mainly by using folk medicine. Mexican believe their health problems may be a result of god’s will, or they may not have the resources for conventional care and turn only to traditional healers, such as curanderos, or herbal remedies to treat their ailments. ("," ) There are other barriers for Mexicans to

The effect of superstition on their mental attitudes, and problem solving abilities were positive. Additionally, both culturally provided explanations for birth, death, and disease. Furthermore, they both believed that sicknesses were the result of witchcraft, demons or the will of the gods. These beliefs typically occurred as a response to a situation in which they had little or no control over the outcome, and it is shown that superstition can help an individual deal better with adverse circumstances. However, many superstitious beliefs have a basis in practicality and logic, which resulted in the infusion of medicine and superstition, and the downgrading of physicians to a status below that of a priest. Additionally, in both cultures superstition thrived, and both cultures look at the priest healing with the help of prayer, incarnation, bathing, rest and nutrition and an impressive array of animal, vegetable, and mineral substance all designed to appease the gods and alleviate human suffering. Medicine in both cultures was clearly becoming a specialized and full-time profession (Anderson, 2007, p.

Healing beliefs: Follows the traditional Hispanic culture health beliefs and healing practices of home remedies with herbs and teas before seeing the doctors and taking prescribed medications

Treatment of illness and health procedures in Western culture are directly linked to scientific findings. However, in other cultures, it is closely related to religion; and for the Hmong, it has no connection to any scientific research. Therefore, it is essential to comprehend Shamanism and how it explains illness, by reason of properly interacting with these patients. In Shamanism, the soul is seen as the main factor influencing a person’s health, and the healing of any illness often involves a spiritual ritual.

Diseases occur as a result of supernatural powers, such as witches, idols and ancestral spirits. The traditional healer must use herbal concoctions and invoke the ancestral spirits or deities in order to treat diseases…

Every culture has different beliefs on certain issues such as death, gender, and spiritual practices. Cultural beliefs influence the way patients understand health concepts and how they take care of themselves. Therefore, knowing a patients’ background and culture is a helpful key to solving certain problems. The Hispanic culture is an old and very unique culture that has strong beliefs concerning death, dying, gender, family, and spiritual practices.