Home Remedies And Alternative Medicines

There has been much study into how culture can impact the quality of health care, but not enough education on what can specifically be changed or how to change it. In The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down, a comprehensive example is presented using the implications of culture on the healthcare of a little girl named Lia Lee. Through evaluation, I have identified five major areas and examples of each that exemplify the clash of cultures presented in this book: Environmental Controls, Social Organization, Communication, Space, and

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.

While these beliefs may be strange to many African American, however they still influence the health care behavior of a good portion of their patients. For this reason, the caregiver should be familiar with them in order to deliver Culture-Sensitive Health Care to African American.

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.

One is expected to precisely follow all medication directions and finish all the medication as prescribed. This was an issue when treating Lia Lee, though. Her parents thought that they could just change the prescription based on what they thought was right for their daughter. However, this was considered child abuse, which would require actions with the child protective services (Fadiman, 1997). Albeit, the American health care system strives to not just treat and prescribe medication but also “involve satisfying the communication gap, interpersonal relationship, counselling and education regarding the disease,” (Ganesh, A. & Ganesh, K., 2013, para. 1). In following this principle, several steps were taken to try to explain to Lia’s parents that they need to give Lia exactly what the doctors had prescribed for her. One nurse even goes as far as drying on lines and suns or moons to indicate how much is to be given and what time during the day (Fadiman, 1997). With Lia’s parents being so steadfast on their Hmong culture belief of self-medicating through the spirit, they refused on several occasions to give Lia medicines that they felt were unhealthy. After several methods of trying to explain the reasons as to why Lia should be given the medicine, the local MCMC doctors decided to transfer Lia so she could get the proper care within a larger, more specialized hospital.

The findings of the interviews are identified in the table below (information including but not limited to what is listed). These families of different cultures ascribed their health traditions to different things. The African American family states that their health traditions are passed down by elders (grandparents), of both sexes. The Mexican American family ascribes their traditions to the women of the family, stating that it is a female responsibility to pass down traditions regarding heath. The Caucasian American family states that they received their knowledge of health from what is or has been proved by science, and usually each mother of the household is responsible for the health of the family.

The book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman talks about a young Hmong child who is treated by American doctors for her epilepsy. It goes on to explain how the differences in the two cultures, Hmong and American, affected the medical treatment of this child. Her doctors and her parents had different views on how to effectively treat her. This book demonstrates how the lack of communication across different cultures can impact the medical treatment and the outcomes of patients.

Anne Fadiman wrote this book to document the conflict between cultural barriers and how they affect medical issues. In this book, Lia Lee is a Hmong child was has epilepsy and battles cultural medical differences. The main struggle in this story is the conflict between the doctors and parents because they cannot seem to get on the same page. While writing the book, Fadiman stated that there was a “clash of cultures”. (Fadiman, preface) Meaning, there are two different sides to the story and the problem has not be solved.

We will consider three families of differing cultural heritage, and explore how each of these cultures influences perceptions of health care.

Comparing the three interviews, it is apparent that all three cultures could require a different healthcare approach. It is interesting to see the family dynamics, and pasts all play a role in their healthcare decision-making and thoughts. Being aware that each family dynamic is unique it is important to avoid stereotypes, and get

This book, as narrated by the author, Anne Fadiman, is about the true story of the life of an epileptic Hmong child named Lia Lee, and her refugee family’s interactions with the American health care system. This child endures agonizing grand mal seizures which ultimately and unfortunately, as a result, led her to become vegetative for the rest of her life. However, the central idea of this story is not entirely about Lia’s severe epilepsy, but how cultural boundaries had prompted to the obstruction of her treatment. Compliance had a major effect on Lia’s life between the doctors and her family, in which this argumentative battle is a way of implicitly revealing the differences in Western and Eastern medication, how the patient is perceived

The family structure of the African American culture is that African American is more likely to become single parents as well as live with extended family members. Slavery is stated to be a reason why African Americans have instability within their families. Living with extended family members is how single parent families cope with his or her situation.

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.

Today when people move across continents with the help of technology their culture and heritage moves along with them. Almost each and every continent is populated with people from different nations who have diverse traditions and cultures. Thus knowledge of health traditions and culture plays a vital role in nursing. People from different cultures have a unique view on health and illness. Culture-specific care is a vital skill to the modern nurse, as the United States continues to consist of many immigrants who have become assimilated into one culture. I interviewed three families of different cultures: - Indian (my culture), Hispanic and Chinese. Let us see the differences in health traditions between these cultures.