Cultural Diversity - Research Paper Example

Cultural Diversity Paper: Mexican Culture Introduction The increasing integrations and interdependence ofmultinational aspects lead to the essentiality of addressing concepts of cultural diversity and multiculturalism. Within the healthcare system, factors of cultural diversity affect lives of many people across the universe. The society or community of a people shapes their beliefs and practices based on the natural and social-cultural environments in which they occupy. Thus, presence of many cultures in the area presents the need to understand their cultural diversity and lays emphasis on the healthcare system to understand the characteristics of the ethnic and racial origins on their beliefs and practices in health in order to facilitate quality healthcare system (Purnell, 2013). The Mexican-Hispanic people are among many other cultures within the states of America. From their origins, they have their beliefs and practices, which shape their notions on crucial aspects of healthcare. Common health beliefs and practices The Mexican-Hispanics community is remarkably traditional and superstitions people. Moreover, they are also resistant to adopting the western medicine, a factor that contributes to the high prevalence of ill health concerns. In their traditional culture concerning illnesses and health, they believe that illnesses are because of sin, life imbalances or witchcraft. There strong traditional religious beliefs are significant in defining their health beliefs. For instance, according to their tradition, the Mexican-Hispanics are of the perception that, physical and mental illnesses are the way of God of conveying his punishment to the people for their sins (Koerner, Shirai & Pedroza, 2013). Thus, within such belief, this forms the locus of their traditional means of addressing health concerns as they implore God to forgive their sins and heal them. Additionally, they also believe that life is about balances and imbalances; hence, when there is an imbalance in the life of a person, they will fall sick. They believe in the balance of hot and cold, tied to the four humors of the body, that includes the blood, yellow bile, phlegm and black bile. Thus, an imbalance in these humors results to physical or emotional illness. Additionally, the Mexican-Hispanics community is also remarkably superstitious, believing that supernatural factors such as witchcraft, ill thoughts and envy among others can result to illness in a person. Thus, according to them, when a person is successful they remain quiet to avoid envy of others. Moreover, the Mexican-Hispanics also believes in the use of traditional medications such as herbs and seeking healing form supernatural realm (Koerner, Shirai & Pedroza, 2013). The remedies also include herbs, aromas and rituals to treat the illness. Moreover, they also present a staunch resistance to advanced medicines and may decline treatment. Moreover, some of the people treat themselves, depending on their knowledge of the factors they suffer. The Mexican-Hispanics community encourages healthy eating as a way of keeping illnesses at bay as well as the use of charms and amulets such as body braces to keep the evils of sickness away from them. Some of the herbs include mint tea, chamomile tea and cinnamon among others. These deep traditional associations form their concepts on illnesses and health practices. Beliefs regarding childbearing practices The traditional Mexican-Hispanics community did not practice aspects of birth control in their initial beliefs. However, with the increased acculturation, their interrelation with other cultures and the western health practices they face mixed reactions over the use of contraception. In the beliefs, do not encourage them to use contraceptives due to the religious beliefs they hold against use of birth control. The women do not trust the use of contraceptives; since, they believe they will affect their sexual lives and may result to complications such as infertility (Maternowska, Estrada, Campero, Herrera, Brindis & Vostrejs, 2010). However, in their concerns over the family, they believe in the conception of few children that the family can sustain. The Mexican-Hispanics culture holds several cultural beliefs concerning pregnancy, labor and delivery. For instance, they encourage the consumption of foods that offer quality health for the development of a healthy pregnancy. However, they omit foods such as shrimps, oysters and eggs as they believe these foods result in bearing a child with awful body odor. They also encourage women to eat sesame and plenty of cream as they believe it aids in breast milk production. They also encourage pregnant women to walk as exercise helps them bear healthy babies. The elders of the community give advice to the pregnant women on various topics of pregnancy and delivery, which forms the basis of their pregnancy and delivery health knowledge (Maternowska, Estrada, Campero, Herrera, Brindis & Vostrejs, 2010). The community also believes that intercourse during pregnancy s harmful to the baby. The community believes that, during labor and delivery, women should not take pain medication as it can harm the baby. Moreover, when the baby position is poor, they believe that crawling on hands and knees helps correct the baby position for birthing. Some of their traditional labor pain management techniques include, walking, counting, reciting chants and controlled breathing. Moreover, they also believe that during labor and at delivery, the mother should have bright clothing as it helps to increase the attitude and intelligence of the baby. However, they do not allow wearing of ornaments and make-up during labor and delivery. Beliefs regarding childrearing practices After the birth of the child, the Mexican-Hispanics culture holds cultural practices that are against modern immunizations of the child. They believe that, after birth, fresh air is healthiest for keeping the baby healthy. They also believe that baby perfumes and scented agents are harmful to the health of the baby. Moreover, there are certain herbal aromas that they use to immunize the baby and shield her from illnesses and other factors such may result to ill health of the baby (Applewhite, 2011). They also give certain herbal teas to the baby and rub some food items on the knees and other joints of the body of the baby to help her develop strong bones. In feeding the child, after a few days, the traditional believe that drinking some beer is good for the mother to produce “levadura” which is stronger and healthier milk. According to the Mexican-Hispanic traditions, they believe in social organization of the family, in which they encompass and practice strong relations within the family. The community values the family as an entity over the individual needs. Thus, with respect to childrearing, the child belongs to the entire family. The culture emphasizes on loyalty of the every member to the family, a self-identity peculiarity they call the “familia.” Thus, the disciplining of child is by the entire family. In terms of education, the community practices predefined roles for the males and females. Thus, the education system is through these arrangements with the mothers and elderly females of the community educating the girls and the males educating the boys on their expected roles in the community (Applewhite, 2011). Further, they also encourage some adoption of the westernized education for the families living in urban areas. The child has permission to play until they become adolescents when they become responsible members of the community. These beliefs and practices shape the social development of the children as they grow. Nursing practice plan for the culture based on the findings Assessing the cultural phenomena is essential for developing an appropriate nursing care within a multicultural population (Purnell, 2013). In view of the phenomena of space, environmental control, time, and social organization of the Mexican-Hispanics community practices, the cultural system influences their health significantly. Thus, to address the health of the people without infringing on their beliefs, as a nurse there is various programs to incorporate in the nursing care. To address their concerns, the plan includes parent-oriented education program on healthy and effective practices in childbearing and parenting. The intervention plan should feature home-based assessment of the expectant mothers as their beliefs and strong loyalty to family practices may hinder them to attend prenatal clinics among other maternal services. The nurturing behaviors also affect the development of a child in their later lives. Thus, as a nursing care system incorporates identification of children facing risks of developmental problems and addressing their health concerns (Purnell, 2013). Moreover, communication is usually a barrier as this community is mostly illiterate. The use of translators although helpful may not be effective, thus, as a nurse, it is essential to specialize and develop eloquence in their language. This will help to engage the community effectively during the process of delivering services to them. Conclusion Healthcare remains an issue of concern for many people across the universe. The cultural diversity, belief sand practices, is among the leading challenges to the offering of quality nursing care to the communities. Thus, with proper understanding of the beliefs and practices of the community in contact with, the nurse can establish affective measures of addressing the challenges. Thus, as a nurse it is essential to grow an understanding of the multiplicity in the clients they address and accommodate them accordingly in their action plans. References Applewhite, S. (2011). Curanderismo: Demistifying the Health Beliefs and Practices of Elderly Mexican Americans. Health & Social Work, 20(4), 247. Koerner, S., Shirai, Y., & Pedroza, R. (2013). Role of religious/spiritual beliefs and practices among Latino family caregivers of Mexican descent. Journal of Latino/O Psychology, 1(2), 95-111.doi:10.1037/a0032438 Maternowska, C., Estrada, F., Campero, L., Herrera, C., Brindis, C. D., & Vostrejs, M. (2010). Gender, Culture and Reproductive Decision-making among recent Mexican migrants in California. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 12(1), 9-43.doi:10.1080/13691050903108688 Purnell, L. D. (2013). Transcultural health care: A culturally competent approach. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis. Read More