Health Issues In Appalachian Culture

Appalachians Health Issues The Appalachian culture were born in the Appalachian mountain range and their family live in or near the Appalachia. “Appalachia comprises 420 counties in 13 states—Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania.” (Purnell, 2009, p. 88). Since the Appalachians comes from such a broad region, I choose to discuss the population residing in Kentucky. The Appalachians from the Kentucky regions suffers from many issues such as poverty and this can influence issues concerning their state of their health and environmental factors. As a public health and community health nurses, their focus is to identify problems

This can be done by teaching the individual on ways to modify their diet or preparation of their food. You can teach the individual on eating food that are low in fat and less in refined sugar. . After interviewing Ms. M.G., a physician assistance who lived in Kentucky near the Appalachian region, I was able to have a better understanding of this culture view of health care practice. Ms. M.G. reports “Taking care of an Appalachian patient can be very difficult sometimes, especially when you are trying to educate them on ways to modify their diet and making better food choices. The Appalachian’s do not trust strangers very easily and they may not be honest or open up to you about personal issues or tell you what they are really eating. This can sometimes create a barrier between the provider and the patient. You have to slowly work on building a repor with the patient” (M. Garcia, personal interview, November 8,

5). The high mortality rates are related to the environmental exposures of the coal mining along with other factors such as smoking, poverty, education, age, race and sex. “Higher lung cancer incidence and mortality in the Kentucky Appalachia is thought to result from higher smoking rates and correlates of poor socioeconomic conditions which limits the population access to health care” (Hendryx, O'Donnell, & Horn, 2008, p. 2). The population residing in coal mining areas, are exposed to contaminated water and air from the coal mining and there is a concern for respiratory illnesses related to the pollutants. The fumes or toxin released from the coal mine, this places the individual at a risk for respiratory issues such as emphysema, black lung, brown lung and