Heritage Assessment

Heritage Assessment

Comparison Between the Differences in Health Traditions Between Vietnamese, Indian And American Culture

A distinct difference between Vietnamese, Indian and American culture with regards to health traditions is which family members make or have the greatest influence when making decisions when it comes to patient care. In the Vietnamese culture, the decision making follows a hierarchy with the husband at the top making all the decisions while in American culture decision making is a process involving equal input by spouses (Galanti, 2000). In contrast, in Indian culture, the decision making process is left to the wife and  husband wife and in serious case a religious leader is consulted (Worthington & Gogne, 2011). Indian culture has traditionally held illness as a spiritual affliction however America culture relies on the modern medicine to determine the cause of illness. Vietnamese culture blames illnesses on super natural entities such as evils spirits and sorcery. Traditional medicine has a played an important role in Indian health tradition which is also known as unani and their treatments consist or herbs and spices as well as exercise in the form of yoga which all target the physical and spiritual wellbeing of an individual. Treatments in Vietnamese culture consists of herbs which are prescribed by traditional medical practioners.

The Application of The Heritage Assessment Tool to Three Families

The three families which the Assessment tool will be applied to are the are the Richards family the Bein family and the Patel Family. The Bein family is an immigrant Vietnamese family and are Roman Catholics however they strongly identify with their Vietnamese culture. The family consist of only four members two adults and two children. The Patel family consist of five members two adults and three children while the Richard family has a similar composition. The Richard and the Bien family do not live near their extended family while this is the opposite for the Patel family. The Richards are Americans and their family has been in the nation four multiple generations and speak English as their main language however they are not part of any religious denomination.  The Patel family is Indian and follows the Hindu religions and similarly to the Bein family they speak their native language.

Health Maintenance, Health Protection, And Health Restoration in Relation to The Assessment of The Three Families

Health restoration with regards to the assessment of the Richards family the Bein family and the Patel Family will require health care staff to work closely with the individuals that are responsible for making decisions in each family according to their cultural traditions. The preference of the use of their native language instead of Englis in the case of the Bein and Patel Family may force the health care institution to use a translator to properly communicate health care treatments and procedure options with these families. In the case of health protection health care facilities should take into consideration the restrictions in the Hindu diet such as the consumption of meat in the case of the Patel Family. Due to the small size of the three families, they will require more support from staff members to ensure that they are not in any distress with regards to the patient or their family. In the case of health maintenance, the large variances between the American culture and that of the Patel family and the Bein family will require healthcare staff to provide extensive education material which is easy to understand which highlight methods to prevent illness. In addition, linking health maintenance to the cultural traditions for example in the case of the Patel family who staff can advise to being traditional yoga exercise.

The Importance of Applying the Heritage Assessment Tool in Healthcare Institution

The Heritage Assessment Tool is an important tool for healthcare institutions as it gives patients a chance to express their values, ethnicity and cultural beliefs and religious affiliations. In addition, the assessment tool also provides valuable information with regards to the patient’s family and education background. Berghout et al (2015) highlighted the importance of patient background information as being a critical aspect of Patient-centred care (PPC) which is the central determinant of the quality of care as well as the success of treatments. PPC can be defined as the responsiveness of healthcare providers to the preferences, needs, and values of patients (Berghout, van Exel, Leensvaart, & Cramm, 2015). Evidence of the importance of PPC based on information collected for tools such as the Heritage Assessment report indicates that it reduces the number of malpractice claims in healthcare institutions according to the review of 4000 reports from the database of the Joint Commission one hospital experiencing a huge reduction in malpractice claims despite an increase in health activities at the facility as indicated in the graph below (Charmel & Frampton, 2008).

Figure 1: reduction In Malpractice Claims at A Hospital the Uses Patient Background Information During Treatment (Charmel & Frampton, 2008)

The Heritage assessment Tool plays an important role in health restoration which encompasses all areas of medical-surgical care by allowing healthcare personnel to plan appropriately for treatments by taking into consideration the beliefs and preferences of patients. An example is the case of patients that belong to the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group who do not accept blood transfusions during surgical operations forcing health provides to find alternative methods and procedures during treatments such as cardiovascular surgery (Ott & Cooley, 1977). The concept of considering the beliefs and preferences of patients in the decision-making process with regards to patient care also extends to health protection. A factor of health protection where background information can be applied to the planning and decision-making process is ensuring food safety to minimize outbreak of disease or virus infections in the hospital (Codd, Morrison, & Metcalf, 2005). An example is the case of religious restrictions on food such as the case of the Jewish religion whose followers only eat kosher foods and if hospitals cannot provide this diet, family members usually bring the patient this type of food. Consequentially, this increase the risk of disease and infection in healthcare facilities as the food becomes a potential medium for the transportation of pathogens into the patient’s environment. Serious illnesses may have an inversely affect the families of patients such as causing high levels of emotional distress (Verhaeghe, Defloor, & Grypdonck, 2005). Ensuring the needs of families are meet through methods such as counselling is critical as families usually play a critical role in the treatment of patients such as ensuring that they take their medication and also providing emotional support in what is sometimes a difficult experience for patients.

References

Berghout, M., van Exel, J., Leensvaart, L., & Cramm, J. M. (2015). Healthcare professionals’ views on patient-centered care in hospitals. BMC health services research, 15(1), 385.

Charmel, P., & Frampton, S. B. (2008). Building the business case for patient-centered care. Healthcare Financial Management, 62(3), 80-85.

Codd, G. A., Morrison, L. F., & Metcalf, J. S. (2005). Cyanobacterial toxins: risk management for health protection. Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 203(3), 264-272.

Galanti, G.-A. (2000). Medical Myths: Vietnamese family relationships: A lesson in cross-cultural care. Western journal of medicine, 172(6), 415.

Ott, D. A., & Cooley, D. A. (1977). Cardiovascular surgery in Jehovah’s Witnesses: report of 542 operations without blood transfusion. Jama, 238(12), 1256-1258.

Verhaeghe, S., Defloor, T., & Grypdonck, M. (2005). Stress and coping among families of patients with traumatic brain injury: a review of the literature. Journal of clinical nursing, 14(8), 1004-1012.

Worthington, R. P., & Gogne, A. (2011). Cultural aspects of primary healthcare in India: A case-based analysis. Asia Pacific family medicine, 10(1), 8.