Incremental Cultural Learning Journals - Assignment Example

Running Head: JOURNALS OF PSYCHOLOGY Incremental Cultural Learning Journals Client Inserts His/her Name Client Inserts Grade Course Client Inserts Tutor’s Name Lifespan and Health In the course of our learning, I have appreciated the role of an individual in recognizing the role of mental, biological and psychological problems as the main reason for the reduced lifespan among different societies. Health of an individual in general is a vital aspect and spice for healthy mental development. In addition, health status of an individual determines his or her lifespan (Backway, 2009). Still, an individual’s behaviour, a fundamental determinant and/or foundation of one’s health status, is not only influenced by internal biological and psychological factors, but also by external factors within the person's social and physical environment (Backway, 2009). While addressing Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, Backway (2009) underpins that the health outcomes of a person is a reflection of how he or she deals with his or her health needs. For instance, people with highly attended health needs are guaranteed a longer lifespan. Focusing on this issue, however, Faulkner and Taylor (2005) state that awareness of the essentiality of one’s health requirements is fundamental for this course. As a matter of fact, in developed countries where individuals have learnt the necessity of self-healthcare, life expectancy is higher than it is in most of the developing countries. There is an inherent relationship between one’s psychosocial aspects and his or her biological and mental health, which in turn affects the lifespan of an individual. One approach in this study is to relate how an individual takes care of not only his or her health, but how he or she treats others in the same context. According to Banyard (2002), individuals take care of others relatively in a similar way as they take care of themselves. All this notwithstanding, a low concern to oneself in terms of health plus low socializing, many a times, lead to higher vulnerability to mental and, significantly, biological health problems. People experiencing these two are likely to suffer withdrawal syndrome that is characterized by low self-worth and thus a perpetrated sickening and early deaths. A low life expectancy index thus pops in, in say a thus described society. According to Backway (2009), adults who had been denied various social and emotional supports during their childhood tend to exhibit diverging values, unlike those who had not. Standards of parental care and medical care in the society are therefore of great importance in this context. When patients for example lack proper medical and family care support, they lose hope on the way and their suffering worsens. According to Backway (2009), most deaths of patients do not necessarily disease driven but a combination of the latter and lack of proper healthcare support from both the medical institutions and family members. All the way I have come to readily agree to Backway’s proposition that it depends on how one socializes and takes care of himself or herself as well as that of others if elongation of lifespan among different societies is our collective goal of focus. I appreciate health promotion among various communities and specifically at individual levels as the first step towards achieving this. Health Behaviour And Change The study on personal health behaviour and change has served to inform about the role of a person to defend himself or herself from health problems. It is common that a healthy person does nothing in belief that he is safe but forgets that there are thousands of diseases that threaten to attack him or her in the future. Specifically, the preventive measures have been forsaken or rather ignored among various societies (Backway, 2009) in a culture of ‘I am healthy so I am safe’. However, as Backway (2009) advises, it is wrong to forsake maintenance as well as preventive measures as far as our health issues are concerned. In the developing countries, ignorance is so high that even some illnesses are passively let to end by themselves. However, there are some factors which lead to enforcement of such cultural values. First, the lack of proper medical care in terms of distribution is a norm in various societies. Where such conditions are evident, an individual chooses traditional medication or rather watches the anticline and syncline regimes of the ailment in question. Secondly, the failure to afford treatment costs is a major cause of deaths by various diseases. A parent for instance may opt to watch non-severe diseases over his or her child fade on itself. According to Morrison, Bennett, Butow et al, 2008), it still takes a long time for particular individuals to actively engage in taking maintenance and preventive health measures and particularly when they think they are safe health-wise despite the various health promotion efforts by the government. As so, it is no longer blame to health promotion authorities that high health-related mortality rates are recorded. According to Backway (2009), a small number of individuals in the developing countries take necessary measures even after they are stricken by various diseases. A good example is the Australian government’s efforts to discourage smoking, yet, these efforts fall on deaf ears. Therefore, it is safe to say that many individuals are ignorant in this context. Sadly, the emergent generation, in an era when medical services are given priority, copies the same ideology of not taking health maintenance and preventive measures. However, Backway (2009) fundamentally deduces that health promotion approach is still effective. Therefore, there is some light ahead if strategies employed in health promotion and awareness is altered to effective ones. For instance, people are more moved by the outcome (Morrison et al, 2008) of their ignorance in terms of disease attacks and outbreaks and therefore bare advice is not enough. Therefore, advice should include tangible warnings on the real effects of say smoking. As a learner, it was a major step to learn how people are ignorant for their very health. One would recommend inclusion of cause-effect detailed study of importance of maintenance of one’s health in academics so as to develop a long lasting discipline of oneself in terms of health of oneself as he or she grows up. Change of health promotion strategies into more vividly convincing methods and examples are important as well. Stress And Coping It has been important to learn that whether one is subject to ailment, recovering or fully recovered, stress is an inherent aspect of among different individuals depending on the capability to withstand a particular disease. While some individuals show high ability to cope up with life downfalls, others are weak and delicate. As Backway (2009) puts it, a suffering of an individual is not solely his or her problem, but a role of many including family members and the medical care units. In a similar argument, Glass (2010) recommends high support especially to the patient in question. The health condition of a patient is likely to be aggravated by stress couple with reduced sense of belonging, self-worth and hope. Backway (2000) and Niven (2006) addresses interpersonal support as fundamental principle that should be utilized by various medical practitioners, relatives of the patient and the society altogether. However, that is not always the case. In various societies, stress due to ailment or due to economic causes has been treated as victim’s obligations and puzzles for solving. In the worst scenarios, stigma from the society and in some cases, the family members has taken the day. Stigma leads to low self-worth and loss of hope. Alongside stress, stigma beyond the victim’s tolerance thresholds has been observed to cause suicidal thoughts which many a times culminates to thus induced deaths (Niven, 2006). In most other societies, diseases have been treated as bad omens in a continuum of unprecedented beliefs and unfounded proofs. While some other untreatable diseases such as HIV/Aids and cancer, victims often and mistakenly suffer from stress and low self-worth. In such a scenario, as Russell (2005) underpins, comforting the patient and psychologically understanding of the patient’s psychosocial dynamics is of fundamental significance for the recovery of the patient. Various medical practitioners have earned a higher score in this when compared to family members and the society but lower than the expected. Family neglect has been reported in various societies cutting short lives of many victims. The end result is untimely deaths and thus shortened lifespan of individuals. As reiterated above, cognitive ability of victims of stress and/or stressing ailments varies. Backway (2009) suggest for medical attendees to the patients among other carers to learn the psychology of the patients so as to be in a position to prescribe various therapies effectively. Empowering family members with the psychological standing of the victim in question will help a great mile in relieving stress as well as guiding the external carers on how to handle the victim. Together with the above, it has been great on my part to learn that stress is recipe for aggravation of the ailment in question among other life-threatening scenarios such as stirring up suicidal thoughts. I appreciate the role the medical unit plays in the handling and advising the victims of stress although most other external carers fail the victim. Giving up at the expense of the victim is the worst and comforting and supporting the patient should be encouraged. Impact Of Illness This study opened the varying cultural approaches application in the medical industry, scrutiny of which led to disapproval of the same approaches. The suffering of a patient from the cultural perspective has been identified and solved using primitive cultural approaches. It may be concluded that most of the cultural approaches especially where intermittent pain of the victim is evident have many a times led to exacerbation of the pain or the illness in question. Yet, various societies still hold to the beliefs that various cultural procedures and religious faith can be useful in eradicating various illnesses. However, the various public health promotion agencies has been on the forefront in condemning and discouraging threats of the trusts that various societies have developed on cultural way of dealing with the diseases. Today, cultural ways of dealing with specifically a painful illness have been disapproved by the most perfect scientific medical approaches (Backway, 2009). However, where painful sensations are involved, usual methods of the medical service today are not enough. The conditions of the patient suffering from traumatizing painful sensations may worsen barely because of the pain. This is in recognition of the impacts the pain has on the psychological aspects of the patient. Again, tolerance to pain varies among different individuals. Others develop sense of hopelessness and in extreme cases, suicidal thoughts. Luckily, there are approaches to pain. Niven (2006) and Russell (2005) recommend a psychological understanding of the patient and the application of the most effective therapeutic procedures in relation to inferences made. While a quick recovery of the patient is the goal of each and every medical attendant, approaches that maintain the patients’ faith in the process of treatment should become the first choice. The psychology of the patient suffering from massive pains is affected by methods that serve to aggravate pain whether in the process of treatment or not. Supportive measures are of ultimate importance. The impacts of various illnesses on the victims differ in accordance with the kind of illness and the genetic ability of the patient. Mostly, loss of vigour, loss of hope, stigma, emaciation and social isolation are among the most threatening aftermaths of various illnesses to the life and future health of a recovering patient. During the treatment and the recovery of the patient, I have learnt the necessity of emotional, physical and psychological support to the patient in question. Support may include nutritional care under the guidance from a responsible medical assistance unit. The cultural grooming of the society in an effort to empower and instil faith and hope to the patient still retains help for this quest (Barkway, 2009). In fact, support by the society triggers positive change in the psychological standing of the patient. It was great to learn the negative and the positive cultural foundation in the support of a patient. While some cultural undertakings exacerbate illness and thus trigger negative psychological standing of the specific patients and cause deaths, other cultural attributes like the support of the patient psychologically have proven helpful. List of References Banyard, P. (2002). Psychology in practice: Health. London: Hodder Education. Barkway, P. (2009). Psychology for Health Professionals. Australia: Elsevier. Faulkner, G.E.F., & Taylor, A.H. (Eds), (2005). Exercise, health and mental health: emerging relationships. Abingdon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Glass, N. (2010). Interpersonal relating: Health Care Perspectives On Communication, Stress And Crisis. South Yarra, Victoria: Palgrave MacMillan. Morrison, V., Bennett, P., Butow, P., Mullan, B., & White, K. (2008). Introduction to Heath Psychology in Australia. Sydney: Pearson Education Limited, Elsevier. Niven, N. (2006). The psychology of nursing care. (2nd ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Russell, J. (2005). Introduction to psychology for health carers. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. Read More