Cultural Views And Health

Cultural Views And Health

Cultural views on health

    One of the goals of Healthy People 2010 (Eliminating Health Disparities, 2009) is to reduce health disparities in minority populations. One way to address health disparities in minority populations is to improve their access to health care by providing culturally sensitive care. Perhaps one of the best way to accomplish this is to have a health workforce whose demographics match that of the population by increasing the number of minorities in health careers, but this is a long term goal. Another way to address disparities in healthcare is to increase the cultural competence of those who are already working in health careers. This paper will examine two the cultural views of two minority groups toward health, American Indians and Hispanic Americans.

American Indians

    There are 546 Native American tribes in the United States. The culture of each tribe is different, as are their views on health. Despite the differences, it may be fair to say that there are common threads that exist in each culture and that have an influence on how the members of a tribe view health (Smyer & Stenvig, 2007). For example, all tribes have traditional healing practices. Balance is also an important concept in native cultures, and history shapes the views of all the tribal members, young and old. Disease results because of a disruption in this harmony.

    The use of traditional healers is part of native culture (Smyer et al., 2007). Ceremonies, songs and prayer are employed to use the collective spirit of the tribe to heal a person. In many Native American cultures, balance in mind and body results in good health.   In some cases, native peoples make seek traditional healing to address spiritual needs, and Western medicine to address physical illness. The goal is to restore balance to the individual and thereby restore their health. However, some native people will avoid seeking the help of Western medicine because of distrust that has built up...