Social Implications of Medical Issues - Term Paper Example

Social implications of Medical issues Lecturer’s The growing multicultural society presents the health care practitioners with difficult tasks of the provision of appropriate care for the patients with different beliefs, values, life experiences languages and healthcare notions. It is important for the practitioners to be able to address the traditional and cultural patient’s issues that are bound to arise during patients care. With this, addressing cultural diversity across the health care services is essential to ensuring that the dignity, comfort and respect of the patients are met in a culturally appropriate manner with regards to each (Campinha-Bacote, 2003). A culturally appropriate palliative care ensures that the quality of life of the care recipients is maintained in a linguistically and culturally diverse environment through supporting the individuals traditional, cultural, and linguistic, as well as their spiritual needs. From the case study, there are traditional and cultural issues that are bound to rise in the care of Grandmother Ella. This includes the treatment modalities for the patients care. For Ella, she prefers the use of alternative and complementary medicine in the cure of her cancer such as juicing. This will contradict with the medical care provided by the hospital. Moreover, in the care of the patient, if the husband or the family decides that their family traditions will be followed in the patients care this will give rise to traditional and cultural conflicts in regards to the patients care. During the care of Grandmother Ella, there are issues that will arise from the integration of alternative and complementary medicine, the medical practices as well as the traditional rituals and practices. For a long period in caring for her breast cancer, Ella has been using complementary and alternative medicine for treatment. This is because, she grew up and was raised on a farm and therefore she is not very trusting to modern medicine. The husband John is of an American Indian origin and is a firm believer in tradition as he uses a variety of traditional methods for well-being and health as means of banishing bad spirits from their home. The family gets along well as a result of the cultural and traditional backgrounds that do clash from time to time. In the care of the patient, it is important for the healthcare providers to make a choice between the best cares to providing to Ella. If they opt for medical practices over CAM, then they will conflict with the patient’s ideologies of medical care as well as on the traditional and cultural practices. This can lead to non-compliance with treatment, loss of confidence in the treatment modality and decreased satisfaction in the care provided. As well, the resistance to the care provision is bound to result in the family if their beliefs, traditional practices, and rituals are not maintained in the patients care (Clark & Phillips, 2010). In achieving a better outcome, the practitioners can opt to integrate practices of conventional medicine to complementary and alternative medicine and ensure that they provide culturally appropriate care to the patient in support of their cultural, traditional and spiritual backgrounds. This is important to ensure acceptance of care and enhance quick recovery of the patient (Isaac, 2001). Family reaction if: 1) Ella wishes to stick on alternative and complementary medicine practices 2) She is coerced to following mainstream medical practice 3) Husband insist that his traditions should be adhered to Ella has been diagnosed with breast cancer and ever since, she has been trying to heal from her ailment with the use of a variety of natural means such as the complementary and alternative therapies. The reason as to why she opted for the CAM over modern medicine is because, since her childhood, she was raised on a farm where they used traditional medicines, and she has no faith in the modern medicine. His husband John has been supportive of the medication therapy option and had no issues in the remedy. The family gets along well in most of the cases though the cultural and traditional backgrounds do clash from time to time. If Ella opts to stick to complementary and alternative medicine the family will be supportive as they had before with exceptions of Manny whom before criticized Ella’s use of the therapy as in one time her skin turned orange due to overuse of carrots and other juices. If Ella is forced to follow the mainstream medical practice, it will be against her ideologies and beliefs against the use of modern medicine. Since ailing from the cancer, she has always used alternative and complementary medicine such as juicing in the treatment of her diseases and has no faith in the drugs. Her husband John, who is of an Indian American origin, is a strong believer of the traditions and in a couple of times; he has utilized the traditional methods for health and well-being. The family has a strong background of tradition and culture therefore if Ella is forced to adopt modern medicine, the idea will be met with many resistances and non-comfort ability. This can result in non-compliance with the medical care and lack of confidence and satisfaction of the family members (Clark & Phillips, 2010). However, for individuals like Manny, who once criticized her for her use of complementary and alternative medicine, she will be delighted. Ella husband is a strong believer in tradition as illustrated in the case. As the husband, he has an obligation of taking part and being involved in her wife’s care. Therefore, if he insists that traditions will be followed in the patients care, the family members will be supportive of his decision. In spite, just like her wife, he also never believed in the utilization of modern medicine, both were believers of tradition, and cultural customs just like the family thus, the family members will be okay with the decision. For Ella, she would have to comply and adapt with the traditions and customs. It will be imperative for the healthcare practitioners to address the patient’s cultural diversity in enhancing dignity and comfort ability. How care choices might affect other family members in regards to their individual problems When choosing the best care for the patient to adopt, it is important to take into consideration its effects on other family members. For Sam with an alcohol-drinking problem, if her mother continues with alternative and complementary medicine he will be okay with the decision since her mother had been using the remedy for treatment earlier. However, if the health care team forces her mother to use modern medicine he will not be comfortable with the decision and this can worsen his drinking problem further. If his father insists that traditions will be followed in the care of the patient, the effects will depend on the relationship that he has with the father. The same case scenario will be manifested to their daughter Lila who has been suffering from diabetes. Being the children of traditional and cultural practicing parents, the two probably have been brought up with similar ideologies, therefore; they will opt for traditional and complementary medicine as the best choice of treatment. As well, the care choices to be adopted will affect other close family members with their individual problems such as Josh, who is Ella grandson. Josh has started to have a drug problem, and if his grandson is not taken care appropriately, he will be in denial, frustrated, and can be involved in drugs more worsening his current state. The same scenario will happen to Lucy a granddaughter of Ella with a bipolar disorder entrenched to drug problems, his brother with HIV, nephew who is suffering from leukemia and Sarah a daughter in law suffering from stress that is related to the family medical issues. Their conditions may be affected negatively if appropriate care is not taken to Ella especially if the health care practitioners go against the family wishes of Ella’s treatment plan, ideologies, and beliefs. According to Amin (2002), culturally appropriate health care provision necessitates cultural awareness of the family beliefs and ideas in regards to the patients care among the care providers. This is important in ensuring that they provide appropriate care to the patient and the family to enhance healing and the recovery process. The family differences, conflicts, and concerns that could be encountered In Ella’s care, several conflicts and disputes are bound to occur in the care process if appropriate actions are not taken into consideration. This includes differences and conflicts in regards to the care that should be adopted by the patient among the family members and the health care providers. The health care team may call for the adoption of modern medicine as the best treatment modality for the breast cancer, to slow and eradicated the cancer cells that the family will be against. The husband is a strong traditional believer and may even call for the adoption of his culture and traditions that may create a greater conflict in the care provision. Another conflict that may occur is between the other family members and the husband if he decides that his traditions should be adhered to. A collaboration of care provision between the family, the patient and the healthcare providers is essential to ensure that these differences and conflicts are not encountered. This is by involving the patients in the provision of a culturally appropriate care that will attain the patients and family member’s needs (Alderson, 2000). Reaction of the family and neighborhood to the situation The team of practitioners needs to be aware of the religious, traditional, cultural factors that may affect the way patients and their families will respond to events and the way care, and suffering is expressed and perceived. An understanding of these beliefs, traditions and cultural practices around the disease process and treatment modalities will aid in providing culturally recurred health care to the patient. Moreover, it is always crucial for these practitioners to identify and support the individual needs and preferences of every family member without assuming that all the members involved share the same beliefs. If these individuals concerns and differences are taken into consideration then the family and neighborhood will be satisfied by the care provision but if they are taken for granted conflicts, differences and dissatisfaction will occur that can further affect the individual problems of the involved members. Considerations of home recommendations to be taken into account as part of the discharge summary A Home recommendation is the alternative to medical recommendations if the patient opts for it. However, it is important to ensure that the patient uses and access to the appropriate remedies of treatment. This implies that the patient will adopt complementary and alternative medicine for treatment that over the years has lacked scientific evidence and controlled clinical trials in supporting it. It is important to make follow up on the patient to determine progression and recovery. Thus, the patients will be asked to go for regular checks and appointments in the health facility to determine their states. Health education is important in enabling the patient know her current health status as well as the advantages and disadvantages of adopting each method. If the disease progression worsens and the condition becomes severe, health care practitioners have to make a decision on the best treatment modality to adopt in the best interest of the patient. It is important to recognize individual challenges facing close family members of the family and recommend for appropriate interventions to improve their care i.e. recommending them to join support groups and rehabilitation centers to seek help and enhance recovery (Goldstein, 2013). The advantages of hospital vs. home care Home-based care has been proven effective in reducing patient’s care spending in the healthcare facilities. It allows the patient is suffering from chronic conditions such as Ella to stay in their home setting and receive care at a more affordable cost allowing the treatment of more individuals in a cost effective way. The care provision is also convenient to the patient (Armstrong et al., 2008). Moreover, according to Boulvain et al. (2004) caring for the patients at their home has proven to improve the patients care as the delivery process of health care takes place in a familiar environment. In the home setting, the patients are more comfortable than in the care facilities and can access their living situations. However, home care is difficult and strenuous to coordinate and attain since the care providers have to travel to the localities of the patients. On the other hand, hospital-based care ensures close monitoring of the patient’s condition and better care is delivered since the patient is at the convenience of the health care provider (Leff et al., 2009). Illness impact on family Ella’s illness will have an impact on the family way of life. The illness period will affect their social and psychological well-being. When a severe illness affected an individual, the diseases process and the health care experience affect the whole family. As each family member has a specific role of playing in the family, then the illness of a family member will disrupt the family running process. An illness may cause additional strain to the family due to economic challenges that may affect family member’s interaction with the society (Chretien & Kind, 2013). Turner (2003) states that the impact and extent of the disruption will depend on the seriousness of the disease condition as in Ella’s case where she is suffering from breast cancer a chronic condition. In this case, the family will be physically and emotionally disturbed, and this could make them feel vulnerable to the options and judgments of others. This can result in an emotional impact of sharing caring responsibilities that can result to hidden rivals and tensions among the members. Conclusion In this case of Ella treatment plan and care it is crucial for the health care team to be aware of the religious, traditional and cultural factors that may influence the way she and their families members will respond to events and the how care, and suffering is expressed and perceived. An understanding of these beliefs, traditions and cultural practices around the disease process and treatment modalities will aid in providing culturally appropriate care to the patient. Moreover, it is essential for these practitioners to identify and support the individual needs and preferences of every family member without assuming that all the members involved share the same beliefs to attain the best possible health care outcome. References Alderson, P. (2000). Enhancing Human Traits: Ethical and Social Implications. Journal of Medical Ethics, 26, 413–414. doi:10.1136/jme.26.5.413 Amin, A. (2002). Ethnicity and the multicultural city: Living with diversity. 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