MIH514 - Cross-Cultural Perspectives Module 5 - SLP - Essay Example

Running head: MIH514 - CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES MODULE 5 – SLP of essay’s assignment is due This paper covers the health practices and practitioners in Malaysia. The sub-constructs of the Purnell model that have been used in relation to health practices are focus on health care, traditional practices, religious beliefs, responsibility for health, transplantation, rehabilitation, self-medication, mental health and barriers. The sub-constructs of the Purnell model that have been used in relation to health practitioners are perceptions of practitioners, folk practitioners and gender and health care Religious practices. Health care practices Focus on health care In 2009, the Malaysian government increased the public health care’s budget by 47 percent, which is equivalent to an increase by 2 billion Malaysian ringgit (Ali 2009, pp. 1 - 13). This shows how committed the government is to the expansion and development of health care. The number of older people in Malaysia is constantly rising, and as a result, the Malaysian Health Ministry has embarked on efforts aimed at attracting more foreign investment and overhauling the system. The system of health care in Malaysia is widespread and efficient. The private and universal health care systems in the country coexist. In 2005, the infant mortality rate was 10, which goes on to show that the overall healthcare in Malaysia is efficient (Ariff & Beng 2006, pp. 2-8). Traditional practices Malaysia’s population consists of three main ethnic groups that include the Malays, Indian and Chinese. Despite having remarkable modern rural health services, Malaysians use a wide variety of traditional healthcare systems. Traditional Malaysian medicine is inspired by the teachings from the three cultures mentioned above. Three aspects are included in traditional health practice. The first aspect is spiritual therapy where a patient receives treatment for spiritual and psychological conditions. These conditions include depression, obsession, magic spells, and insomnia. The second aspect is massage therapy that uses different methods, balms an instruments in different regions of Malaysia. The third aspect is herbs that are in the form of liquids, powders, leaves, tablets, oils or pills. These herbal remedies are primarily aimed at restoring the natural balance in the body’s systems. Religious beliefs The traditional religious beliefs and superstitions of Malaysian people have an important impact on the health of the people. These beliefs include fortune telling, worshipping ancestors, historical heroic gods, Buddhist gods and Taoist gods. These beliefs have important influence, particularly among patients with subjective psychotic experiences such as hallucinations and delusions. All these traditional Malaysian religious beliefs and superstitions tend to affect the meaningfulness, contents and manifestations of hallucinations and delusions. These beliefs also replace the patients’ self identity. The beliefs appear as a supernatural force that is the cause of the misfortune and troubles, the resolving factor for difficulties or a stress and coping mechanism (Ariff & Beng 2006, pp. 2-8). Responsibility for health Doctors are required by the Malaysian health care system to perform a compulsory three year service at public hospitals. This is aimed at ensuring that these hospitals maintain their manpower. Of late, employment in Malaysia has been encouraged for foreign doctors. However, a shortage of highly trained specialists still exists and as a result, specialized treatment is only available in large cities. As much as there have been recent efforts to take facilities to smaller town, the lack of experts to run the equipment has been an impediment. In the urban areas, the majority of private hospitals are equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic and imaging facilities. However, these private hospitals are in shortage, as they are not considered an ideal investment. Since foreign medical practitioners have recently been going to Malaysia, the situation has changed and investors are building private hospitals. Transplantation Organ donation in Malaysia is allowed only after the donor has approved the transplant after understanding four factors. These factors are that the situation leading to a need for a transplantation is urgent, for a heart transplant, the death of the donor must be confirmed prior to the transplant, human murder during the transplant should be avoided at all cost and if the donor dies a normal death, the donor must approve the procedure before the transplant. Approval must be sought from the family of the deceased in case of a fatal accident of the donor. Those organs that are complete such as the heart, kidney or liver are allowed for transplant. Tissues and cells such as bone marrow, cornea or bone marrow are also allowed in Malaysia. The first organ transplant in Malaysia was done in December 1975 on a businessman whose brother donated a kidney. Rehabilitation The 20th century saw the introduction of Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR) for Malaysian patients with severe mental illness. There have been developments and challenges in rehabilitation since then. The development of psychiatric services in Malaysia is directly related to the progress made in the PSR activities. Improvements made in PSR have been contributed to by stake holders and the participation of the community. Rehabilitation that has been tailored to individual need and empowerment of patients and families have contributed to the success of PSR. Unfortunately PSR in Malaysia is not accessible to everyone who needs it. The PSR is yet to be conducted near the patients’ homes and environment. Self-medication Responsible self-medication is commonly practiced in Malaysia, with consumers walking into pharmacies or supermarkets and purchasing self-care products for common health problems. When a person in Malaysia has an everyday health problem, they usually let the condition run its course, but 25 percent of the time, they turn to no prescribed products. Studies have shown that the people who turn to self-medication read labels carefully and are cautious to take the medication for less than the maximum dosage indicated on the label. Self-medication fits into the prevalent trends in many societies that include aging populations, consumer empowerment and wellness and disease prevention. Mental health There are over 30 general hospital psychiatric units that are spread throughout Malaysia. Healthy mental health services are developed by 12 undergraduate departments of psychiatry and three postgraduate training programmes in the country (Young 1991). Mental health is integrated into primary health care that covers community mental health. Since 1973, 140 Malaysian psychiatrists have undertaken a four-year master’s course in postgraduate psychiatry (Young 1991). Despite this number of psychiatrists, there is still a shortage of clinical psychologists and social workers who are involved in providing mental health services. A few specialists in forensic, child, adolescent and rehabilitative exist. There are strong efforts such as new legislation to improve the care for women, children and the disabled. Barriers There are a couple of challenges towards promoting health in Malaysia. There are limited care and prevention services given by the Malaysian government to HIV/AIDS. The surveillance and response of Malaysian people to communicable diseases has been inadequately integrated into public and private health services. Rabid urbanization and globalisation has increased the risk of health challenges such as Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Health services can hardly be accessed by mobile populations, migrants and poor people living in rural places. Brain drain and changing demographics has resulted in inadequate human resources of who can provide health care due to emigration of skilled workers (Ali 2009, pp. 1-13). Health care practitioners Perceptions of practitioners A study by Moyle, Iacono and Liddell (2010, pp 85–95) found that the undergraduate medical training received by newly graduated medical practitioners in Malaysia has limited and inconsistent content. Mixed perceptions by the health care practitioners on their role in the medical care of children and adults are common. Most health practitioners lack awareness on the importance of early intervention. Many practitioners feel that they can make a diagnosis, but are unsure about the implications of their diagnosis. Most medical practitioners are reluctant when it comes to disclosing a diagnosis to family members. Most practitioners also tend to believe that it is not their responsibility to take care of the diagnosed patients in primary practice. Folk practitioners Traditional healing in Malaysia is a holistic approach that caters for the spiritual, psychological and treatment needs of patients. Therapeutic and physical means are utilized to prescribe a dose of herbs or medicine. This traditional healing system is inherited from the forefathers of the Malaysian people. A Malaysian folk medicine practitioner is called a bomoh, pawang or dukun (Chen 2000, pp. 15–38). The studies taken equip the bomoh to cover the philosophy of life and the proper medication to patients. The philosophy of life covers the therapeutic usage of herbs, animal parts and metals. The bomoh also learns how to relate the philosophies of life with the disciplines and lives of human beings. Touks are elders among the folk practitioners and they are treated with great respect in rural society. Gender and health care religious practices In Malaysian society, men generally have more power than women. Male dominance is seen in many laws such as determining the guardian of a child. However, considerable suppleness towards women has been shown in the health care field. In dentistry, for instance, more female dental practitioners were practicing in 2004. As shown in the graph below, more male dental practitioners were in the private sector while more women dental practitioners were in the public sector. Public-Private Distribution trend of Dental Practitioners in Malaysia from 1970– 2004 (Majid, Hussein & Bagramian 2005, pp. 11-25) Conclusion This paper has analysed the health care in Malaysia, the traditional practices used to provide health care, the religious beliefs revolving around health care, responsibility that has been shown in relation to health, transplantation, rehabilitation, self-medication, mental health and barriers. The perceptions of practitioners, folk practitioners and gender and health care religious practices have also been discussed in detail. References Ali, SM 2009, ‘Barriers to optimal control of type 2 diabetes in Malaysian Malay patients’, Global Journal of Health Science, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 1-13. Ariff KM & Beng KS 2006, ‘Cultural health beliefs in a rural family practice: A Malaysian perspective’, Aust J Rural Health, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 2-8. Chen, PCY 2000, ‘Traditional and modern medicine in Malaysia’, Medical Journal of Malaysia, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 15–38. Majid ZA, Hussein NNN & Bagramian RA 2005, ‘The prevalence of caries and enamel defects in 229 Malaysian children 16 years after water fluoridation’, Sing Dent J, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 11-25. Moyle, J, Iacono, T and Liddell, M 2010, ‘Knowledge and perceptions of newly graduated medical practitioners in Malaysia of their role in medical care of people with developmental disabilities’, Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, vol. 7, no. 2, pp 85–95. Young, B 1991, Who cares: The story of Malaysian care, Malaysian Care, Kuala Lumpur. Read More