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Different Cultures and Their Health Traditions

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Submitted By SophiaVega0617
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Pages 6
Different Cultures and Their Health Traditions
The Heritage Assessment Tool is a valuable tool that can be used by health care professionals to help them become aware of the client’s ethnic, religious and cultural background in relation to their views on health, illness and diseases. As defined by Winkelman, culture, is an element of ethnicity, consists of shared patterns of values and behaviors that characterize a particular group (as cited in Edelman & Mandle, 2010, p.32) Assessing these culturally diverse individuals and being aware of traditional health practices will improve the quality of care given to them. In this paper the writer will discuss the Hispanic, Haitian, and Filipino cultural backgrounds and how their heritage, as well as what their beliefs and values, affect their views on heath maintenance, protection, and restoration.
Heritage Assessment Usefulness
In assessing one’s heritage, cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds and preferences, and how it may directly relate to the person’s views on health and illness, the healthcare professional will be able to understand the individual as a whole and be able to tend to their needs better rather than just focusing on the illness itself. Being culturally competent means providing health care based on the understanding of the total context of the client’s complex situation through knowledge, attitude, and skills (CGU, 2011). The heritage assessment tool provides a good basis for the patient and health care professional to start a dialogue. In doing so, information leading to the team member having a better understanding of the client and how the client wishes to be treated regarding cultural beliefs will progress. In turn, they will be able to deliver effective health care with the client’s own health traditions assessed and acknowledged, and result in a holistic approach to health care delivery. The

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