Unsafe Cultural Practices In Health Care

PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION CULTURAL SENSITIVITY

Culturally congruent care starts with cultural safety. Unsafe cultural Practice is brought about by disregarding the cultural identity of the person which is embedded with understanding the values, beliefs and practices. In the domain of fronline practicing nurses, culture is seen as a relational experience. When health care personnel obtain, biographical history using any modality, like the Leininger sunrise model, and strive to understand particulars of each individual, it increases the potential of providing culturally responsive care.

Cultural sensitivity is brought about by employing humanities based emotional intelligence and acknowledging life transitions and circumstances to develop a

care map that reflects culturally congruent care. Health and wellbeing are perceived by different cultures differently which translates to meaning different things for them. Ethnic identity in the clinical environment influences all avenues of health care like compliance with prescribed regimen, treatment modalities or prevention of risk factors, etc. knowledge about a culture’s health care beliefs will help develop a care map that is demonstrative of cultural sensitivity.
This paper aims to explore one ethnic culture’s health care beliefs, which I choose to be Hinduism because of personal familiarity and there is a lot of Hindu population residing in in my health care vicinity who seek health care at my facility.
Core beliefs of Hinduism
Religion is a way of life.

Families are close knit and extended. It is not uncommon for different generations and multiple families to live together in the same house. Children are expected to take care of parents and placing them in a long-term care facility is generally frowned upon and considered abandonment. Older generation prefer to die at home. Hindus believe in reincarnation. Cows are considered sacred so eating beef is considered taboo, but milk products are consumed. A red dot is worn on the forehead of the Hindu woman as a sign of marriage and a wedding pendant is worn at all times. It is considered very inauspicious to remove

them.
Ahimsa(non-violence): means to not cause any harm to any living creatures, hence most Hindus are vegetarians.
Karma: is a universal force of energy and law that whatever you do comes right back to you, whether good or bad. Karma can be carried over from the previous life, which means that good or bad is happening in this life time but is the results of the previous birth’s deeds.
Birth and death are very important events and many rituals abound around them which is important for health care providers to know so that accommodations can be made where possible to provide culturally sensitive care.
Health Care Considerations:
Ayurveda: Herbal, home remedies are the norm. they are always tried first and only after exhausting those trials is Allopathy treatment sought. Home remedies are usually handed down from generations and are usually made from everyday stock at home that are readily available. Yoga and meditation are performed as activities of daily living and not considered exercise in particular. If allopathy treatment is sought, injections are preferred over pills because injections are thought to be more potent. An office visit without a prescription is generally thought futile.
Nutrition: Hindus are traditionally vegetarians, plant based protein is preferred. Rice and tea are staples at every meal. yoghurt, milk, buttermilk, lentils and honey are some of the other staples. Turmeric is considered a sacred spice and is widely used in food, on the skin and in religious ceremonies. Indian food is flavored by a lot of spices which are believed to regulate the hormones. Hospital food might not be consumed well because of lack of the accustomed spices.
Death: Karma determines time of death.

Family prefer to do the post-mortem care as the body is washed with turmeric, sandalwood paste, red Kumkum powder and holy ash. It is common to pour a small teaspoon of holy water in the dying persons mouth. Cremation is required.

Artificial life support: It is not viewed favorably because it interferes with reincarnation. A very important health care consideration is the time of the life support withdrawal. It has to be very specific; down to the minute, as the time of the release of the soul is calculated by the priest. Family might want a priest at the bedside reciting ‘mantras’ while discontinuing life support.

Births: Newborn babies are not named right away as an astrologer has to suggest the first syllable of the name after looking at the birth star. The naming is done at the temple in an elaborate ceremony, so the parents might not have a name ready for the birth certificate at the hospital. Mother’s may adorn the baby’s forehead with a small black dot to ward off the ‘evil eye’. Circumcision is not

practiced.
Accurate report of milk or food consumption of the child is usually not reported for fear of that person casting the evil eye, for the same reason, babies are not fed in front of other people, so the amount of food consumed is not seen. Mothers also do not like strangers touching or carrying the baby as there is a belief that the stranger can absorb the baby’s good luck and positive energy.
Communication Guide
Questions are generally not asked even if something is not understood. However, it is considered rude to not talk when talked to, so when gently probed by more questions, the required information can be elicited. The male head of the family is usually the spokesperson and decision maker for the family. English language is understood for the most part since most of the immigrants are the educated working class but there might be a problem with health care team not understanding the authentic Indian accent. Hence there needs to be alternative methods of communication like in print so that message is not lost in translation. Same sex physicians and nurses are preferred. Health information is not usually volunteered so any required pertinent health history has to be elicited by targeted questions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, culturally sensitive care enables the building of a trusting, therapeutic and open relationship between health care providers and patients that translates into providing holistic care to the patient and family for positive health outcomes. Organizations and health care personnel who understand their client’s cultural values, believes and practices are able to provide culturally congruent care for them. Through individualizing care, health promotion, disease prevention, and health restoration is fostered. Cultural general knowledge and skills ensures that providers have a process for ‘becoming’ culturally competent and thereby provide culturally sensitive care.