Heritage Assessment in Nursing

Heritage Assessment in Nursing

Heritage assessment tool in nursing is an essential component in the field of medicine and health. It is a tool used to assess, maintain and restore individual’s culture and beliefs. Heritage assessment tools play a key role of helping health care and service providers assess and evaluate the cultural health methods (Viginia & Catana, 2010). All individuals living in a community have their heritage which is different from culture. These types of traditional health assessment majorly deal with peoples spiritual, mental and physical beliefs. Communities have varieties of beliefs on death, illness, health and diseases. In most of the societies, health is termed as a complete balance between an individual’s mind, body, spirit and family in relation to other external forces of the world. All this beliefs play important roles in heritage assessment because they give a holistic approach for addressing this issue. It helps both the health provider and the patient to find an effective and efficient communication that will enhance health (Philos, 2010).

The ultimate goal of heritage assessment in nursing is to collect information about the various beliefs that will establish traditional competence among the health care providers. Traditional and cultural health methods are used in health maintenance, health protection and health restoration. Health maintenance can be termed as designed approach of preventing a disease and promote health. Health protection is a tool used to give an explanation of how individuals maintain their health on a daily routine. Health restoration is the act of restoring an individual’s health to its maximum level. This paper is going to investigate three families. It is going to lay out how the family’s beliefs on health have impact on well being and how health providers can effectively handle such situations (Nunnery, 2012).

The first family to be interviewed for this assignment is my own family.  My family is a US California heritage. I come from a complete family consisting of my four brothers, my mum and dad. My family believes in the Holy Scripture. They do believe that health is a God given gift to the human beings and should not be taken for granted. My parents and siblings have a strong spiritual attraction and belief in God Almighty. I believe that too but God almighty opened the way out of poor health through the many drugs that have been discovered to combat different diseases. Although my family is established in a heritage rich in culture, I don’t practice the beliefs.  My brothers and I are very close and we talk and joke severally. We go to church weekly. We belief that proper health restoration and maintenance can be achieved using the cultural beliefs alongside the modern health care techniques.

The second family which was interviewed beliefs that health related cases should be handled by medicine men. . If the illness persists, they involve witchcraft in the process. All the individuals in that family have grown up believing on the beliefs. This family believes that diseases are demonic brought by evil spirits. They say that the evil spirit and should be extracted by a medicine man who is well acquainted with knowledge on how to appease the dead and bind evil spirits. The family did not want to talk about their religion or spiritual life because they belief in medicine men more than their religion and health care. They use natural herbs as medicine. Varieties of herbs are used to heal different types of illnesses. The best way of health maintenance, restoration, and protection is looking for techniques that can be used to analyze the traditional herbs these families are using. This will effectively eliminate side effects of the herbs and ensure for proper health. Maintaining, protection and restoration of health using traditional beliefs requires knowledge and proper understanding of the cultural beliefs. Nurses should be well equipped with knowledge and skills about the belief.

The third family that was interviewed believed that health can be maintained by the religions they belief in. The belief that illnesses and diseases which causes poor health can only be intervene through prayers. They believe that prayer is the only tool that can combat illnesses. This beliefs makes them put on religious medals on their necks, legs, and hands. They belief that the medals can poses some holistic powers can protect them from contracting diseases. They visit shrines to be given candles which they light when praying as a sign of shunning away diseases which are considered demonic. They do not belief that hospitals and health care providers can help them get over the sickness. The most suitable way of restoring, maintaining, and protecting health in such a family is by using the modern health care techniques alongside the traditional methods. Health care providers should use psychology as a weapon of handling such families. They should look for the most effective way to communicate and reaffirm them that it is through God that human beings have discovered drugs to many ailments.

An individual’s traditional culture and beliefs are essential in health care. It influences an individual’s health and how they response to health care provided by nurses. Traditional cultures heritage and beliefs cannot be evaded. They should be embraced. Cultural heritage is considered an essential factor in economic, social and health promotion on individual’s life (Sagar, 2011). By assessing individual’s traditional heritage, health care providers and nurses gets a transparent chance of providing quality health care techniques to patients.  Heritage assessment has played a very vital role in the field of health care maintenance among individuals in a community. The assessments will give nurses and medical practitioners a clear structure and information on how to effectively and efficiently handle individuals in our societies with such issues. This paper has used interviews on three families to lay out how health can be restored, maintained and protected in such cases (Treas & Judith, 2010). Nurses may use such interview to gain information on how to handle such situation. The goal of the interview is to equip nurses with knowledge and skills on how to properly handle patients with such complications.

 

Reference

Treas, S.L., Judith, M. W. (2010). Fundamentals of Nursing: theory, concepts, and application.     Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.

Virginia, C. S., Catana, B. (2010). Occupation Therapy on Mental Health: A visit for          participation. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.

Philos, N. (2010). Knowledge for the Good of individuals in the Society: linking philosophy,       disciplinary goals, theory, and practice. Journal of the Nursing Institute of Health, 11 (1),         42-52.

Nunnery, K. R. (2012). Advancing your Carrier: concepts of professional nursing. Philadelphia:    F. A. Davis.

Sagar, P. L. (2011). Transcultural Nursing Theory and Models: application in nursing        education, practice, and administration. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

 

 

 

 

 

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