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Impact of health literacy
Cultural Diversity in Healthcare Quizlet
Reflection essay of myself
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Reflection of the story of the book author Fadiman
First and foremost, the book of Fadiman (2014) is very inspiring, eye opening to anybody who reads the book, and it is also disappointing because of the medical practitioners provided unequal treatment to the Hmong family. One of the most refreshing attitudes of the Hmong people is their honesty, humility, patience, never gave up to fight fo their daughter, fight fo their belief and the close families ties, as well as the support among Hmong people. As I searched more information about Hmong people, it is fascinating to know that they believe in various spirits that surround the Hmong people. The Hmong people believe in spiritual healing (shamanism) to heal their illness (Bankston, 2013).
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Effective communication prevents medical errors, improve patient- therapist relationship, as well as prevents disappointments and friction. It is essential to find out the level of health literacy of an individual, as well as the proficiency in English. According to Divi, Koss, Schmaltz & Loeb (2007), there is a risk of patient 's safety due to the language barrier. Based on the study of Divi et al. (2007), among 832 English speaking patients and 251 patients with limited English fluency, 49% of the patients of their study have limited English fluency that associated with physical harm with a rate of 29.5% patients that are fluent in English are physically injured. Partially injured and death occurs with patients with constrained English proficiency (52.4%), as compared to patients with English fluency (35.9%) (Divi et al., 2007). Divi et al. (2007) suggested providing access to qualified language interpreters for patients with limited English proficiency to prevent more harm. Effective communicating is not only important to patients with limited, or inadequate English proficiency but also to individuals with impaired vision, hearing, and people that unable to speak.It is also important about the patient 's privacy. Another knowledge from the book mentioned above is effective communication regardless of individuals culture. …show more content…
The social worker is the only health care provider who patiently provided and emotional support to the Lee family. Also, the social worker was the only person who had the social, cultural interaction and spent time finding resources for the child 's (patient) medical supply because of limited health insurance benefits. However, the health care providers from the book of Fadiman (2013) provided a poor cultural interaction, and various medical errors of providing child 's care. First, the doctors prescribed different anti-seizure medications and other drugs for the child with lack of knowledge that the parents of the child (patient) fully understand the prescribed medications, as well as the schedule and number of dose to be dispensed. The health care providers of the child should have a better communication to prevent overmedicating the patient. Second, the patient 's parents were asked to sign a consent form translated in English only, and without fully explaining the content of the form. The doctors did not ask if the parents of the child fully understand the consent form. Third, the miswritten of the child 's name in the medical chart. There is a consequence of misspelled, or miswritten name in the medical chart may cause a medical error of
The intersection of health policy to the case of Senora Benitez is brought by social, political and environmental factors. First social, Senora Benitez with no children, husband who got laid off from work and a life in a trailer truck added in worsening the health condition of Senora. I think if only the husband can have work and if they have children who can support their needs it will be easier for the family to support the treatment needed by the patient. Political wise because of the surgeon who’s been wanting to have his own vascular surgery clinic and did a wrong surgery. Also it is stated that he started the patient on additional antibiotic, which makes the kidney of the patient to diffuse. I think because of the dream of the doctor the budget allotted to the patient was consumed and the hospital administrators became worried. I also want to assume that educational background was also not tackled, it is important to know that the patient is understanding the teaching well and know the importance of the treatment and possible outcome if not followed. Also, social isolation when the author described Mrs. Benitez not attending church and the only option for her would be her neighbor who barely let them borrow the car to drive for 12 miles. The distance of the health care center is also a factor and the reason why can’t do follow up
There is considerable evidence of the Lee’s having both low print and oral literacy. The Lee’s spoke very little English; they also were illiterate in both English and Hmong (Faidman, 1997). Another contributing factor to their health literacy was their beliefs about medicine. Because of the dissonance between the Lee’s beliefs and the American medical system, it was unclear if the Lee’s fully understood the cause of Lia’s epilepsy or the purpose of her prescribed medication. Their motivation to learn may also have been a factor; they believed they already knew what caused Lia’s epilepsy and what healing she needed. Faidman describes cases of successfully communicating western medical ideals with Hmong people, but Lia’s case is not an example of effective cross-cultural understanding. The Lee’s low level of health literacy severely impacted their ability to successfully understand and administer Lia’s medication, which may have negatively affected her health outcomes. Some strategies to improve communication suggested by Egbert and Nanna (2009) that may have helped the Lee’s include using plain language that is culturally sensitive, spending more time with the patient to ensure understanding, and using a, “...teach-back method, in which patients repeat back to the provider the information they believe they have just
The Hmong people, an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam and Laos, greatly value their culture and traditions. The film “The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America” documents the seventeen year journey of the Hmong Shaman, Paja Thao and his family from the mountains of Laos to the heartland of America. This film shows the struggle of Paja Thao to maintain their 5000 year-old shamanic traditions as his children embrace the American culture. Moreover, the film shows that one of the major problems refugees like Paja Thao and his family face upon their arrival to the United States is conflict with the American medical system. Despite the dominant biomedical model of health, the film “The Split Horn” shows that
On one hand, the Lees truly love their daughter and want the best for her, but their culture's view of medicine does not help her seizures. On the other hand, the doctor has the knowledge and training to help manage Lia's condition, but they have no respect for her parents' culture. The language barrier makes it difficult for the doctors to acknowledge Lia's conditions. This is why the doctors' originals misdiagnosed Lia with a bronchial infection instead of epilepsy. From my experience shadowing the doctors at St. Thomas's hospital, if Lia's doctor has tried to take the time to get to know the family, then they could have saved Lia. This book is a perfect example of showing the miscommunication between two different cultures that led to complications in
The Hmong culture is firmly rooted in their spiritual belief of animism, ancestral worship and reincarnation. These beliefs connect them to their sense of health and well-being. They view illness as having either a natural or a spiritual cause. A spiritual cause results in a “loss of souls” or is an action or misdeed that may have offended an ancestor’s spirit (California Department of Health Services, 2004, Purnell, 2013, p. 317). The soul escapes the body and may not be able to find its way back home. The Hmong also believe that a combination of natural and supernatural cause’s results in illness, and spells or curses, violation of taboos, accidents, fright, and infectious disease are other causes for illness (Centers for Disease Control
The goal of this lesson is to explore how we can improve communication to eliminate language barriers between healthcare providers and patients in our organization and to establish culturally and linguistically appropriate goals, that provide safe, equal, and quality care to all our clients regardless of race, ethnic, or socioeconomic status. At the end of this lesson we should be
In addition, one of them was 10 year old girl, who was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Patient was a young girl, from different culture and religion, and parents had language barrier; however, while taking care of the child, I could see that family had really good interaction with each other. Parents were at bedside all the time, and they were very supportive and attentive. Patient and family did well with diabetic care. The mother was participated in cares and eager to learn. Moreover, to provide highest quality of care, nurses did a lot of great job. They provided information about the child’s chronic illness and taught about insulin administration. Consequently, from caring that patient I understood that most important nursing interventions are to assess patient's ability to copy with new life and role change, patient’s reaction to chronic illness, support system, cultural issues, and available
The Hmong believe that the human soul is a prized possession and should always be kept happy. They believe that the soul has a domain where it rests usually where they were born. After a Hmong woman gives birth, the father digs a hole and buries the baby’s placenta. “If it was a girl, her placenta was buried under her parents’ bed; if it was a boy, his placenta was placed in a place of greater honor, near the base of the house’s central wooden pillar.” (5) Once a Hmong dies, it is believed that they must retrace his or her life path and reunite with his or her placenta, in order to be prepared for the dangerous journey ahead of them before they reach the sky and meet their ancestors. The Hmong’s also believe in animal sacrifice, which is method of keeping “dabs” (evil spirits that try t...
This was the misunderstanding that should be cleared in the story. There would have been probable results if the Hmong community chose to collaborate with the modern society without needing to disregard or compromise their own values and religious affiliations and applications. In the eyes and according to tests performed by the doctors on young Lia, they concluded that the young girl was suffering from neurological abnormality that should be treated immediately. Epilepsy is best controlled with anti-epileptic medications.
Language and communication played huge roles in the outcome of Lia. If her family had been able to read, write and speak English, she may have been able to get the help she needed. Instead, the doctors did their best to make sure that Lia’s parents knew how much medication to give her since Fadiman stated in the book, “Foua and Nao Kao, of course, had no idea what the labels read”(1997; 46). Therefore they had no idea how much she needed each day, and they didn’t trust doctors on top of that most of the time, so Lia didn’t even take the medication. This really affected Lia’s body and she started having more and more seizures because of it.
2) Medical pluralism was used to treat Lia in Fadiman’s book as she was treated using both Western medicine and Hmong medicine. For example, she was taken to Merced County Hospital by her parents after she began to have seizures to get her looked at by Doctors and while there she was treated using western medication. At the same time though her family also treated her using Hmong medical beliefs which involved sacrificing animals in an attempt to bring her spirit back as well as visiting Twix Neeb, a Hmong shaman, in Michigan in an attempt to get professional help in curing their daughter.
To understand the events and clashes between Lia’s family and her medical staff, it is necessary to understand who the Hmong are. Fadiman dedicates several chapters of her book to explaining the depths of the Hmong culture in order to strengthen her reader’s understanding of the unfolding dilemma between the Lees and the American doctors. In the terms of Dr. Gary Weaver, a professor and Executive Director of the Intercultural Management Institute at American University, the Hmong are categorized as more high-context and gemeinschaft culture (Weaver 15). A concrete instance of the beliefs of the Hmong is their interpretation of illness. Sukey Waller, a psychiatrist at the Merced Community Outreach Services stated, “Psychological problems do not exist for the Hmongs, because they do not distinguish between mental and physical illness. Everything is a spiritual problem,” (qtd. in...
Bentancourt et al. (2005) allows asserts that there are three distinctive reasons why cultural competency is so very important for the American healthcare system. American is composed of a very diverse population, which mean healthcare providers will continual be exposed to treating individuals from various backgrounds and from various cultures; their beliefs regarding their health or healthcare may range widely. When patients have a deficiency in the English language, proper healthcare delivery becomes increasingly more difficult as they will present symptoms in the syntax of their culture and their first language. Also, research shows the communication between the patient and their provider directly correlates to their satisfaction as well as their responsiveness or willingness to follow the health provider medical instructions; this ultimately affects the patient’s health outcome (Bentancourt et al., 2005). It’s fair to say that a successful health outcome is also contingent upon the interaction of the health provider and patient. Reports generated by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) – “Crossing the Quality Chasm and Unequal Treatment, confirms that cultural competence that focuses on the care of patient through
Traditional Hmong’s believe in their Shaman rather than western doctors, they choose to detain their treatment by hosting their rituals to save them. A shaman is “a person who acts as intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic to cure illness, foretell the future, control spiritual forces, etc” (dictionary.com). Hmong individual’s have a belief that ancestral spirits, including the spirits of shamans, are reincarnated into the same family tree. Hmong consider being a shaman an honor because they carry the duty of helping mankind according to Hmong mythology. Differences between Hmong traditional beliefs and Western biomedical beliefs create a lack of understanding. Negative health care experiences result in Hmong community members’ mistrust and fear of Western medicine. However, when there’s mistrust between a doctor and a patient there could be lack of treatment because of the differences between our ...
Patients rely on their physicians and other doctors, patients think or do what the doctor was right. Family doctor broke the minor patient confidentiality, without their permission. Minor patient 's family secret is broken, the patient can choose to stay away treatment.addition medical patient told the doctor, it seems disgusting and disclose sensitive personal information, do not tell their parents, then the doctor should not be counted. Patient doctors in private life and we will not collect information on the condition they use. When a child with your doctor about these issues doctors should not do, when the time the child is in danger, it is to tell the child 's family. Doctors suspect family problems, children at risk, the authorities may be notified. Sometimes they show that abortion is the best for her, and notify the parents may be dangerous. The right to disclose information under the background to avoid disclosure or "special relationship" obtained. "Special relations, including between doctors and patients, lawyers and clients, priest and penitent or confiders, guardians and their communities" ( "Doctor patient confidentiality"). Communication between patient and doctor is very important, usually including a doctor and other professionals work. Sometimes you need counseling and medical advice and family relationship breakdown when a minor patient 's medical crisis. Once the doctor has a duty of confidentiality, they