Aging Asian-American Culture

To determine which type of care a senior needs, the family needs to sit down with his or her doctor and medical team. With input from all parties, a care plan can be developed. In many cases, both a home health aide and an in-home caregiver will be required to ensure the proper level of care, one that allows the senior to stay in his or her home.

Death is something that will eventually happen to everyone, but there are so many different ways of people that deal with death around them. There are some people who don’t deal with death well, so they become mentally and emotionally unstable for their entire life. On the other hand, there are people who accept death for what it is and take the necessary steps to become more tolerant to it. In Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande, he speaks about the various aspects (such as the cost of taking care of elderly people) that surround death that people often neglect. Death can be a very taxing area of discussion, but once people accept its cruel nature they can overcome the burden it brings.

Cultural Competency in general is related to the ability to serve people in an appropriate way where they feel respected. In health care this refers to comfortable treatments that meet the standards of the patient from any backgrounds with all their different ways of living. Health care is a very important matter to every culture with different beliefs, traits, linguistics, etc. As Tamu Nolfo, the certified prevention specialist states in the short video “What is cultural competence and why is it important?”, there is still a problem with inequality in the United States. This makes it difficult to connect with such diverse cultures and backgrounds. It is; however, very important to have health care providers with cultural competent manners

Dr. Galanti provides insight into the relationship between cultural diversity and heath care providers. Dr. Galanti’s briefly states the difference between “stereotype and generalization”. The author recognizes that generalization may be a key factor used by workers in the health care community to bring awareness and a better understanding of cultural differences among patients. The article explains that although cultures differ in values, traditions, and beliefs, there are questions (the 4’C’s of culture) that may open up the line of communication, between provider and

Cultural competency is defined as having the appropriate understanding of different cultures which allows one to effectively interact with different individuals, to ensure all diverse needs are addressed. Having cultural competency helps one to recognize some of the following things, and as a result, it helps improve trust and acceptability. One of which is understanding food habits. By understanding food habits, one will have a better inclination of what might be at the core of many illnesses and diseases, and will be able to advise care and treatment plans that the patient will be more likely to successfully implement. If the physician is culturally competent, they might catch a deficiency, for example, and they would have the ability to suggest all the correct foods to supplement it.

Describe three possible interventions to address the potential negative consequences of general healthcare quality improvement programs (eg. pay for performance and quality reporting) on racial and ethnic healthcare disparities.

During the assessment, it is also important for us to realize how culture may have affected their reason for seeking a social worker which includes assessing and understanding the influence acculturation has on the family members caring for elderly client (Kao, et al., 2010). Thus, giving the social worker for example the knowledge that the client and their family that they are working with might be first generation and due to their immigration status may or may not engage in the intervention process.

“During the mid-eighties, the Nationalities Service of Central California in Fresno received a short-term federal grant of $100,965 to establish what it termed ‘an integrated mental health delivery service utilizing Hmong healers and western health providers (269).’” Which resulted in treating 250 patients with mental health problems. It also provided Hmong’s 8 Txiv neebs and 18 healing ceremonies. In addition, the Merced County Health Department developed a cross-cultural education program named; “Bridging the Gap.” This program trains nurses with interpreting and advocacy skills. As well as “cultural competence,” in order for these nurses to understand their patients better and help treat them in the way they would feel comfortable. Today, many medical students are learning how to face cross- cultural issues. For example, the University of Wisconsin developed an “integrated multi-cultural curriculum,” in order to practice cross-culture. This includes the following: “panel and group discussions, case conferences, student interviews, role-playing exercises, and home visits (271.)” Furthermore, Stanford is trying to convey the “whole doctor-whole patient” model to be used again. What this model does is it allows doctors to, “bring his or her full humanity (275.)” Which means doctors should give more attention to what illness the person has rather than which person has this type of illness. As a result, this will help save more peoples lives and not interfere with one another’s cultural beliefs. Overall, these are many ways of how people are trying to “bridge the

One of the most integral parts of cultural competency is the process of successfully becoming culturally competent. After synthesizing available research on the topic I have constructed four main steps in becoming culturally competent. Those include self-awareness, understanding various aspects of the culturally diverse population for whom you care for, practice evidence based medicine as it relates to culturally diverse populations and continuing education (Kodjo, 2009; Purnell, 2012).

I have relatives who have only used south Asian home remedies any time they are sick. I’m sure they would prefer a doctor who would be familiar with these remedies and advise them accordingly when helping to treat them. This is just ONE EXAMPLE of the potential need to incorporate cultural competency into healthcare. Do you know anybody that would benefit from the any cultural competency efforts in healthcare? Please give an example of anything that you can think

The topic of developmental considerations for Hispanics is very important. The elderly Hispanics will eventually need care and someone has to be there to have that responsibility. Elderly Hispanics are usually taken care of by their own family. “The majority of caregivers to single elderly Hispanics are adult daughters, but financial necessity and acculturation have led an increased number of young Hispanic women to work outside of the home.” As times become harder to take care of one’s self, the elderly will have to be taken care of a different way. Nursing homes are becoming the Hispanic elderly’s way of being cared for since no one else in the family can give care.

Medical providers that have cultural competency will overall enhance the quality of care to a diverse group of patients. Having that cultural knowledge would help the medical provider make the patient feel comfortable ultimately increasing the chance for that patient to follow through or adhere to the medical provider's treatment plan. It would also allow the medical provider to help build a friendly nurturing relationship with all of his or her patients. Developing these friendly relationships with patients will help make the patient worry less about a difficult diagnosis and would give them hope that they could one day get better from it. When a medical provider is culturally competent they would know how to respond to certain medical scenarios

Cultural competency is increasingly important in healthcare today. In America today, we are facing a lot of tension between cultures today. America is a very diverse country with many cultures co-existing and in order to properly care for patients professionals need to be able to understand and tend to their cultural needs. Whether it be a difference in language, understanding that someone is a veteran and how that may affect them psychologically, or any other set of circumstances that surround a specific culture. Having the knowledge and resources that cater to different cultures makes for better experiences across the board and, consequently, makes for more effective healthcare visits.

In modern American society, it is typical to place elderly adults in assisted living centers once they become unable to care for themselves. Even if their children and relatives wanted to care for them in-home, the person is likely to insist on “lifting their burden.” In fact, if an elderly adult does not see their presence as a burden on their family, they are viewed as selfish or irresponsible. Such is the situation with my uncle at present. Since my great grandmother’s passing, he has been dependent on my grandmother (his sister) for everything from gas to food.

Cultural competence is very important in providing patient care. Culturally competent providers should understand and respect the patient’s beliefs, values, and behaviors, and develop a treatment or care based on the patient’s specific needs. Being a healthcare professional requires you not only to assess, diagnose, and make a treatment plan, but also take into account patient’s beliefs and perception of their health-related issues.