Heritage Assessment 1 Running head: HERITAGE ASSESSMENT

Heritage Assessment

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Heritage Assessment 2 Heritage Assessment The ever-rising cross-cultural interactions have brought about the mixture of varying cultures. This implies that different cultures are no longer limited to geographical boundaries. Nevertheless, it must be understood that there are certain aspects of culture such as religion, relationships that can be hardly eroded by global interactions. The notable social movement in the world has raised concern over customized health care attention. It is imperative that the cultural settings of an organization or people have far-reaching effects on governance and management of health care issues. The resurgence in public awareness towards promotion of sound health and disease prevention has prompted the creation of mechanism that makes it easy for health professionals to understand the persons under their care. One of these mechanisms is the use of Heritage Assessment tool to retrieve the attributes of a person prior to administration of health intervention (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). Heritage is as unique as the fingerprints are to every human being. Various cultures have outstanding features, which are not shared with others. Heritage entails the parameters used in determining the ethics, religion and way of life amongst a people of a given geographical boundary. The unique cultures of individuals encompass the traditional health methods employed in maintenance, restoration and improvement of wellness among others. These concepts include the mental, spiritual, and physical beliefs. It is not possible to delineate the manner of handling health matter from the presets of cultural heritage. This essay seeks to establish the importance of using heritage assessment in the evaluation of needs attributable to a whole person (Spector, 2009). With a special focus on Heritage Assessment Tool, this work will examine the usefulness and efficacy of understanding the needs of a whole person before administering intervention.

Heritage Assessment 3 The milestones realized in the national health care policy have transformed the perceptions and attitudes of health care providers. It is notable that there has been a paradigm shift in focus of health care services from less efficient reactive perspective to proactive one. This change in master plan advances the provision of effective health care and diseases prevention. However, this shift is not sufficient in delivering the objectives of health care services without an understanding of the ultimate beneficiary these policies. Therefore, the providers of health care services must underscore the dynamisms surrounding the cultural interactions inherent in modern day contexts. This has occasioned the recognition and incorporation of cultural group patterns and disparities within various cultures in a bid to provide optimal health care at the beneficiaries advantage (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). Heritage Assessment tool is a checklist used by health care professionals in a bid to understand the position of a client with regard to culture and beliefs. It is a perfect way in which the health care provider understands the patients before initiating any actions. Since the ultimate intention is to mitigate diseases and alleviate suffering in the most effective manner possible, it is prudent for the health expert to understand the most comfortable procedures to the patient. In this profession, the value of cross-cultural understanding plays a central role. The primary role of health care is to make the patients or rather recipients of health care as comfortable as possible in and after the process. A succinct understanding of trans-cultural settings is helpful in meeting this primary role. This will ensure that the intervention measures used are not only acceptable in the culture of the recipient but also comfortable. On top of the Hippocratic duty in which health care professionals are tasked, it is their responsibility to maintain an accurate understanding of cultural and individual preferences (Spector, 2009).

Heritage Assessment 4 Heritage assessment tool is also useful in differentiating diverse traditions as well as heritage of different cultures. Due to my Indian background, my customs, practices and traditional beliefs regarding health are varied and are specific according to regions. Indians are famous for their endurance and fair treatment of guests irrespective of their race, economic status and religious beliefs. Indians especially the elderly believe that wealth and health have a close relation with body, mind and soul. Individuals are ashamed of seeking mental health medications as compared to other illnesses and may sometimes wait until critical moments. Traditional medicine system in India includes Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Siddha, Unani, Acupressure and Acupuncture (Shapiro, n d). Although India utilizes the western medicine, individuals believe in herbal medicine to hasten the healing process. Indian culture is distinctive and diverse. Nowadays, people concentrate more on disease prevention than cure. There is emphasis on health restoration, maintenance and protection through vaccinations, physical examinations and health screenings. Public health services integrate and improve optimal health in communities. The Indian government focuses on hygiene and sanitation improvement as well as food and water provision mainly in public sectors and schools. Health education is vital in health promotion. Access to screening tests and early disease detection programs for diabetes, hypertension and cardiac diseases among other diseases enhances health. India has well equipped modern facilities for health care in public and private sectors. In addition, media like television, newspapers, radio, and printed materials help in educating and motivating population on health issues. My family is strongly involved and engaged in our culture. We are encouraged to seek medical counseling, diagnosis and proper treatment. Men have more authority and power. Health care providers are expected to be

Heritage Assessment 5 trustworthy during treatments. Indians are modest and prefer healthcare providers of same sex (Shapiro, n d). Health traditions and beliefs are different in Nigeria. They define life as a process and an individuals essential qualities as forces of energy. They believe that physical, mental and spiritual qualities are not isolated and that sound health means agreement with universe. Inborn ailments in their beliefs result from spontaneous reasons like rain, cold air, dirty food and heat. They believe in the existence of evil spirits and demons that make people sick People get opinions from traditional healers in order to dismiss the wicked spirits. The goal of Nigerian health policy is to attain optimal health to every citizen. In this regard, the Nigerian government works together with World Health Organization in launching campaigns and health education services against communicable and non- communicable diseases, thus promoting health (WHO, n d). Health traditions and beliefs in Middle Eastern communities are different from Nigerian and Indian. Arab world mainly consist of Muslims who believe that evil eye superstitions cause illness. People wear exceptional bracelets and incensed perfume to offer protection from evil eye. These customs are currently vanishing due to increase in education level. The Middle Eastern community emphasize on maintaining sound health through proper hygiene and food nutrition. Modern generation seek medical attention once symptoms begin. Arabs are aware about disease prevention and health promotion. Government hospitals and clinics offer free medical care. People utilize health promotion strategies including immunizations and screening methods in illness detection and prevention. Media play a role in encouraging people on health restoration (Transcultural Nursing, 2008).

Heritage Assessment 6 Heritage Assessment and evaluation of the three different cultures reveals some similarities and diversities in culture traditions among countries. For instance, Indians and Arabs men dominate in the family. Both cultures also consult with significant family members before making serious decisions on health issues. Additionally, they both prefer same sex health care providers. Nigerians and Arabs believe in superstitions as causes of diseases but practice different cultural traditions in order to overcome the causes. Indian cultural heritage has significantly influenced my nursing career. I grew up in catholic faith, which shaped my parents help and guidance. I start my day and activities with prayer thus strengthen my religious faith. Furthermore, I have received basic professional skills from the nursing school. I perform nursing process as circulating nurse, scrub nurse, preceptor, and charge nurse. I have a robust believe that nursing is a noble profession and hence has a fundamental role in todays health care. My own perception of health is linked with cultural heritage and knowledge obtained from the profession itself. Conclusion Health care needs to be specific for every person based on traditional and cultural values. Heritage pronounces strengths and powers in societies. With the increasing peoples awareness in promotion and maintenance of health, it is important for health care providers to understand patients beliefs, customs and practices for safe and quality healthcare interventions. Culturally skilled health care will lead to enhanced clinical outcomes, greater cost efficiency and patient satisfaction (Spector, 2009).

Heritage Assessment 7 References Edelman, C., & Mandle, C. L. (2010). Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span (7th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby. Spector, R. E. (2009). Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Health. Shapiro, M. E. (n d). Asian Culture brief: India. 2(4). Retrieved September 19, 2011, from http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Asian_Culture_Brief__India.pdf Transcultural Nursing, (2008). The Middle Eastern Community. Retrieved September 19, 2011, from http://www.culturediversity.org/mide.htm World Health Organization, (n d). Health Promotion in Nigeria. Retrieved September 19, 2011, from http://www.afro.who.int/en/nigeria/country-programmes/health-promotion.html