Health Care Provider Faith and Diversity - Essay Example

Health Care Provider Faith and Diversity In any diverse city in the United States, there will be several different types of people with a variety of healthcare needs. The challenge to someone who is working with these different groups can be that they are unfamiliar with their needs. It is very important that healthcare providers understand that different cultures have a different way of understanding and seeing the world. There are many times when people of different cultures will come into an emergency and may or may not speak English. There are others who may show up and be very afraid of bringing their family members into medicine. In working with these diverse groups, the more healthcare providers understand, the better this will work. For this essay, the three chosen faiths are the Hmong, Native Americans and Buddhist faiths. Abstract Healthcare providers must understand that there are many different ways that people see healthcare. A healthcare provider cannot assume that an individual will understand Western medicine, or will comply with what the doctors want. The key to understanding diverse cultures is that the culture must be valued and the healthcare provider must have an understanding of the individual’s belief and their culture. Those healthcare providers that understand will be able to work more effectively with a diversity of patients. This paper presents three belief systems – Hmong, Native American and Buddhist – and what each one believes about healthcare and how they can be treated. Hmong Beliefs and Healthcare Emery (2003) states that the Hmong are a “Laotian hill tribe” (para. 5). Their tribe is very ancient and traces back to China. Between 1812 and 1820, the Hmong began to migrate to Laos and Vietnam after they were defeated by Chinese forces that were bigger than they were and who forced them out of their homes in Laos. They had small villages, lived in huts made of lumber or bamboo, and they had dirt floors and thatched roofs. They grew their own crops of tobacco, food and tea. They were a proud people and they did not have need for laws. Their religion gave them “fear of gossip, shame, and ancestor spirits” (Emery, 2003, para. 7) kept them from doing anything that would require a formal law. The clan and family are very important to the Hmong and therefore anything they do will have strong family ties. Spiritual Perspective on Healing The Hmong is a very superstitious. As an example, when a child is born, the parents take the placenta of the child and bury it. This is because they believe that the when the child grows up and then dies, that the soul must come back to the placenta to complete the cycle of life and death (Fadiman, 1997). Depending on whether it is a boy or a girl, the placenta is buried by the father in the dirt floor inside the house (girls) and outside near a tree (boys). This is a very important aspect of their belief system (Fadiman, 1997). The Hmong believe that soul loss is the reason for most illness, and they have a special ceremony to call the soul back. Dabs, or evil spirits, can come along at any time and steal the soul, so mothers dress their children in a disguise, which is an elaborately colored and designed hat, so that when Dabs look down at the children, they will think the child is a flower and therefore leave it alone (Fadiman, 1997). Johnson (2002) studied the Hmong and found they had no understanding of the human body or of diseases. In Laos, many of the older people had opium to help with pain, but to become addicted was taboo. The use of it was accepted however for both pain and anxiety. Because of this, Hmong people thought that Western medicine would be fast to fix their pain. Usually, if the Hmong did not gain a fast acting change in their pain, they would not use the medication properly; they would not tell the healthcare providers this information because they have a very strong need to save face (Johnson, 2002). The Hmong also believe that there is a pool of blood in a person’s chest that is their life force, and if an individual’s chest is squeezed too hard, it would kill them (Johnson, 2002). In essence, the Hmong believe in animal spirits as well as other types of spirit, and these spirits can control many different situations in healthcare (Johnson, 2002). Much like Native Americans, the Hmong believe in Shamans, and Shamans prepare ceremonies when an individual is sick and again when they are well. The families will pay for the Shamans to come and do the ceremonies, and to stay in their homes until the individual is healed (Johnson, 2002). Native American Beliefs and Healthcare Native Americans have for centuries, believed that everything is a part of the circle or wheel of life. In ancient times, they would honor spirits as well as animals and humans because they believed that everything must be honored. The wheel is sectioned into four sections that represent the four directions, but that also represents mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual practices. Native Americans feel that prayer is necessary on a daily basis (Cantore, 2001). As in Hmong culture, Native Americans value family and culture, and elders are very important to the Native American culture. Because of this, the older members of any tribe will be revered because of their age and wisdom. They elders are also considered the counselors that people go to with any challenges they may have whether it is mental or physical health issues (Cantore, 2001). The most important aspect of the tribe is the Shaman and a shaman can be male or female. Although Native Americans may go to the hospital when necessary and go to clinics, they will still rely on the Shaman of the group to make sure that everything is in balance. Native Americans also believe in using different herbs and teas. All of these things bring them back into balance. Sweat lodges are also very important because this allows toxins to cleanse from the body. Buddhist Beliefs and Healthcare Buddhists believe that there are basic things that an individual must do that are due to their belief in the “Path of Life” (Harvey, 2006, p. 33). The Buddhist is supposed to see all aspects of life as sacred and develop wisdom and compassion towards every aspect of life. There are five basic beliefs: 1) To refrain from killing (especially humans); 2) To refrain from taking that which is not given; 3) To refrain from misuse of the senses and sexual misconduct; 4) To refrain from lying or using false or harmful speech; and 5) To refrain from taking intoxicating drink or drugs which cloud the mind (Harvey, 2006, p. 33). Buddhists believe in what are called the core principles of Karma (laws of cause and effect), Samsara (people’s suffering) and their possibility of “cessation of suffering” (p. 33) and they believe that to reach enlightenment, they must have regular meditation, practice and study. What Buddhists believe about healthcare is based on these five principles. As an example, many Buddhists are vegan or vegetarian because of the first principle. Many Buddhists only eat one main meal a day and spend more of the time in meditation and prayer. Buddhists will take medication if it is something they will help them. Many will ask what it is for and what effect it will have on them because of the fifth principle (Harvey, 2006). Like the Hmong, Buddhists believe in rebirth and they will make sure that the person who may lie dying will have a positive peace of mind so that they can cross over to death in a better place and time. Comparison of the Three Beliefs All three beliefs see the soul as something that will either move on or come back after death. The Hmong are the most superstitious and therefore may be considered by some as the most “primitive.” Native Americans and Hmong believe in Shamans and the idea that although they may have to come to modern medicine, the shamans know better. Buddhists may be considered the most modern of the three because they are the least resistant to modern medicine. They also are not afraid to try different drugs if the drug will not have an addicting All three systems believe that prayer is an important aspect of their beliefs, but Hmong and Native Americans believe in a ritual that goes along with the prayer, that will involve the Shaman. Also, Native Americans and Hmong believe that the body is not in balance (the Native Americans see it as the wheel is not balanced, the Hmong see it as the soul is not balanced) and that something must be done in order to bring the individual back into balance. When looking at Christian beliefs, these other beliefs can be frightening because they deal with the whole body, mind, and spirit together, while Christian beliefs and modern medicine treat them differently. As an example, a primary care physician would send an individual who was having mental health concerns to a therapist or other mental health provider rather than treating the individual themselves. In many cities, the Hmong are not allowed to have the placenta of their child. Fadiman (1999) states that one of the reasons why the doctors at her hospital did not do this was because they thought the Hmong were going to eat the placenta, so they incinerated it instead. Conclusion In researching these topics, I was struck by the fact that healthcare providers in the Western World, really do not understand other cultures. We really believe that as doctors and nurses, we are the authority and we do not seem to care about some of the lesser known cultures. Fadiman (1999) really gave an understanding of the Hmong culture and how the doctors did not work well with the family. This was heart breaking because the child may have been better, in this case, if the doctors had sincerely worked together with the parents in the beginning, instead of waiting until later. I was struck, especially with the Native Americans and the Hmong how much I personally do not know about other cultures. I will definitely have to find a way to learn more, so that I can be a better healthcare provider. References Cantore, J. E. (2001). Earth, wind, fire and water. Minority Nurse. Retrieved from http://www.minoritynurse.com/cultural-competence/earth-wind-fire-and-water Emery, J. (2003). Their world, not ours: Problems grip the Hmong in America. Retrieved from http://www.worldandi.com/newhome/public/2002/december/clpub.asp Fadiman, A. (1997). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Harvey, C. (2006). A Buddhist perspective on health and spirituality. Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy, 9(1), Retrieved from http://www.sach.org.uk/journal/0901p33_harvey.pdf Johnson, S. (2002). Hmong health beliefs and experiences in the Western health care system. Journal Of Transcultural Nursing, 13(2), 126-132. Read More