STUDENT# 823389721

Exploring Health Beliefs and Determinants of Health

Student: Jasleen Rakhra
Student No: 823 389 721
Date Submitted: October 9, 2013
NURS 160: Practical Nursing Theory One
Professor: ***************
Humber College ITAL

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Exploring Health Beliefs and Determinants of Health
In todays society many people are unaware of what health means. The purpose of this
paper is to explore personal health beliefs, cultural health beliefs, and determinants of health.
This will be achieved by determining the definition of health, along with my own definition. My
current health beliefs and how the determinants of health effect my personal health practice will
also be examined. Furthermore we will look in to how my cultural beliefs affect my health and
discuss strategies that can be used to improve personal health practices. We will also compare
and contrast health beliefs from another culture. Most importantly we will analyze how my
nursing practice may be influenced by all these factors.
Health is a state of body when individuals are able to perform physical activities in
concern with conscious mental and social well-being. This definition of health fits best with:
Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve,
their health (Potter and Perry, 2005). The reason why this definition best fits my definition of
health is because one is able to influence several factors of their health. For example one can
choose what type of diet they eat, or choose to engage in smoking. One has the option to exercise
or engage in physical activities to improve their health. Taking care of your health is considered
primary prevention (Potter and Perry, 2005).
My current personal health beliefs play a major role in my overall health. There are
natural remedies to many illnesses such as the common cold or flu. For example, when treating a
cold or flu, instead of taking over the counter medicine I prefer to have a tea made with herbal
ingredients. Also indigestion and diarrhea can be treated by eating a specially made soup
consisting of lentils and rice with yogurt, which helps to stop frequent bowel movements.
Temperature also plays an important role in my health beliefs, for example drinking an ice cold

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beverage and then a hot tea will negatively affect your health, or taking a warm bath and then
going outside right after. These health beliefs mainly stem from my social environment, income
and social status. Having spent the majority of my life in India, common illnesses do not warrant
a trip to seek medical help from a professionally trained doctor or nurse. Most of these illnesses
can be treated by home remedies that are passed down from elders over the generations. The
social environment in India is one where the norm for the majority of the population is not to
seek professional help for common illnesses. Income also plays a major role in my personal
health beliefs, visits to the doctor or a nurse in India are very expensive. When income is not
sufficient enough it effects your health, many of the medicines are also expensive so that also
deters people from seeking professional advice from a doctor or nurse.
Cultural beliefs in India have both a positive and negative effect on health, most of the
beliefs are designed to prevent negative health issues. For example when a mother gives birth to
her child she is to rest and not leave the house for 40 days. This also allows the mother and child
to bond. Also the mother is not to perform any household duties or daily chores during this
healing period. A mother is also to eat a special highly nutritious diet for the duration of the 40
days which helps with internal healing and increased breast milk production. The new born baby
is also not allowed to leave the home for this 40 day period so that he or she can gain strength.
This was experienced by me first hand after giving birth and it positively affected my health.
Also males are considered more valuable than females, and males tend to get better care and
upbringing. It is also common to hold religious ceremonies for all occasions as it is believed that
a higher power was responsible for health issues. Being female many times my health would be
over looked or explained as an act of God, and this also has a negative effect on my health.

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However India is rapidly changing it cultural beliefs to a more modern scientific model as the
determinants of health such as income, education, and social status are changing.
My personal health beliefs and cultural beliefs need to be adjusted in order to maintain
my personal health. This can be accomplished by developing new strategies to improve my
personal health practices. After studying nursing it has become apparent that time management,
diet, proper rest, exercise and meditation are all important to increase my health. At the start of
this course time was not available to prepare proper meals, study, and exercise. In the future
proper meals must be prepared at home before class begins instead of purchasing fast food meals
at the college. In order to maintain proper rest, and meditation items such as face book and
favorite television dramas need to be reduced and the time saved allocated to maintaining my
health. Positive thinking is another strategy that can be used in order to maintain proper health,
for example always being negative can lead to stress and depression which can affect your
health.
According to my classmate (H.O, personal communication, October 6, 2013), in the
Nigerian culture a women who has recently given birth is required to rest and avoid physical
activities and she is given special hot spicy soup to regain strength and health. Within the Indian
culture the same is true when a women gives birth however in Indian beliefs, no spicy food is
allowed for 40 days as it is believed that this would make the breast milk spicy and affect the
babys health. In Nigeria, A new born baby is usually given a bath at birth and is regularly bathed
at morning and night times. (H.O, personal communication, October 6, 2013). In India a new born
baby is not given a bath at birth but rather 24 hours later, after that in India a baby is only given a
bath once a day in the morning. In Indian beliefs when one is suffering from common sicknesses
such as a flu, rather than going to a doctor for treatment and special tea is brewed consisting of

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boiling water with fennels seeds, basil leaves, peppermint and ginger. This tea is then consumed
be the person with the illness in order to treat the illness. Once again Nigerians believe that
when you are sick, especially with a fever, that there are some medicinal herbs you can use to
help you get well, like lemon grass. The herbs are boiled in a pot of water. Then the extractions
from the herbs are then used by the patient. The patient can either drink the extraction or use it
for taking a bath. See a doctor if there is no remedy for the sickness (H.O, personal
communication, October 6, 2013).

Every culture has their own religious, spiritual, and cultural beliefs towards health care.
Nursing is a profession in which one must deal with variety of patients all with different beliefs.
Reactions to cultural differences are automatic, often subconscious and influence the dynamics
of the nurse-client relationship (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2009) . Regardless of my cultural
beliefs it is important that they do not interfere with the nursing practice standards. My personal
beliefs will never be imposed on a patient, rather I would respect the patients cultural and
personal beliefs. Religious beliefs and rituals play an important role in some extent to the
patients wellbeing and health. For example, my own home remedies would not be prepared for
my patients, however if a family member of a Nigerian mother who just gave birth was to bring
lemon grass tea and spicy soup that would be acceptable. In my professional practice my focus
would be based on the directions given to me by in charge practitioners and would comply with
my nursing standards. It is unrealistic to expect nurses to have in-depth knowledge of all
cultures (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2009). In order to gain knowledge of someones culture
it is important that I remain open minded to patients religious beliefs, and not interfere with them
as everyone has the right to religious freedom. It is important that communication barriers do not
exist and as a nurse it is my responsibility for developing a communication plan with the patient

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(College of Nurses of Ontario, 2009). Once this is done I will be able to perform my duties as a
nurse with greater effectiveness and efficiency.
The well-being of a person depends upon a combination of mental, physical, and
psychosocial activities. Ones health beliefs play a role in maintaining health to some extent,
depending on how the determinants of health influence them. Personal health practices can be
improved by considering several factors such as diet, exercise, and rest. Health beliefs are
transferred from generation to generation and varies among different cultures. In professional
practice one can hold their beliefs, however at the same time should understand and respect other
patients culture and beliefs.

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References
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2009). Culturally Sensitive Care (pp. 3-6). Toronto: College of
Nurses of Ontario.
Potter and Perry. (2005). Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing (pp. 12) . Toronto, ON: Elsevier
Mosby.