White American Heritage

Heritage is defined as the full range of our inherited monuments, objects,
traditions, and culture in the which a range of contemporary activities meanings and behaviors that are drawn from them. Heritage involves preserving displaying or restoring a collection of old things. So using the Heritage Assessment Tool for family health assessment is important in addressing the issues of health maintenance, protection and restoration. It differentiates how the families view health according to their heritage.
Family health assessment is vital in formulating a health care plan for the family .A good family assessment requires great observation skills and ability to be an active listener. They should be good rapport between health

care professional and the family that is intended to be interviewed. HAT is a challenge but it helps in making a better assessment by asking all those questions and how the health care professional can help in the restoration, protection and maintenance of good health.
The author conducted three family interviews with three different ethnic groups the White American, Asian and Black from the Caribbean. These interviews were interesting because these families have different perspective about health and life as they have different heritage. Evaluating these interviews, these families showed some similarities and differences in their traditional practices which showed holistic optimal care.
The first family interviewed was the White American whose parents are born here but the grandparents are from Italy.

The husband is of different ethnic group but both are non practicing Catholics. They believe in western modern medicine to maintain, protect and restore their health. They believe in the closeness of the immediate family but not so much with extended families. The husband is of Hispanic heritage and for sure they believe in family especially extended family but he follows the wife`s culture. The husbands in heritage Hispanic heritage are believed to be the head of the family but it`s usually the woman who makes decisions mostly about concerning health and other issues pertaining their lives. They both eat American and Hispanic food which they prepare themselves but sometimes the eat out. Concerning physical activities, it is not easy for them because the both had knee surgeries recently. As they are both retired,they solemnly depend on their daughter if they have any serious issues and need help. If it means taking them to the hospital,she does. They do not believe in rituals but celebrate Christmas and some Hispanic

festivals.
The second family interviewed are originally from Haiti. Both the husband and the wife came America when they were very young. Have 2 children and 4 grandchildren. Family is very important in their culture as they view family as everything to them. Extended family is always part of their lives. For health protection, maintenance and restoration, most Haitians practice voodoo but they not forthcoming here in America because of the bad stigma it has. But for this family, they are practicing Christians who believe in God for their health by reading the bible and praying. They also believe in modern medicine. They not so much involved in Haitian culture because they were very young when they came to America. They only celebrate Christian holidays and their independence. In their culture, for someone to be free from diseases, he/she need eat well and right in maintaining their body weight. They do not eat out but prepare their food from the scratch. They foods are mostly well balanced. They do not smoke or drink alcohol. Physical activities is not so much but do a lot of walking. They both rarely speak their language, Creole.
Then the last family interviewed was family of 5.Father, mother and 3 grown children. They have one grandson. They moved from Philippines when they were in their 30s.They left their children with their grandparents. The children came when 2 older ones had finished college and the youngest was in high school. So for them, it was very difficult to adjust especially with a different culture and language and weather. They speak Tagalog in their home as it makes them feel home in a different country. Family is very important part of their lives. If one is sick, everybody is sick too. Extended family is very vital especially one is sick. Decision making depend mostly on the family members for their maintenance,protection and restoration of health. They believe in in God for healing and miracles even though modern medicine is also inclusive in their belief. In whatever they do, they have to pray to God for guidance. They pray daily when waking up, at every meals and before sleeping. The food they consume is mostly home made. It's mostly their ethnic food and it is very healthy and well prepared. They mostly count calories and do a lot of exercise to maintain their physique. Obesity is unacceptable in their culture. They try to live as healthy as possible. They also incorporates western modern medicine and herbal treatments Similarities and Differences Among the three Families
In all the three ethnic groups or families discussed, family support is very important in their lives as everyone needs someone to be there for them emotionally and physically especially when he/she is sick.

This helps faster healing process and better patient outcome. All the families believe in God`s existence even though the White American family does not believe in His healing power but mostly depends on western modern medicine. As Filipino family believe in God`s healing power, modern western medicine and herbal treatments, they also believe that God is the creator of all things even the one who invent modern medicine. The Haitian family also religious but use modern medicine for health issues. They all eat mostly from home and cook their healthy ethnic food from the scratch which if good because obesity is not prevalent in their families. They all participate in celebrations from their ethnic groups and religious holidays and festivals. The Haitian mostly celebrates religious festival not traditional because they are mostly voodoo related and it`s not part of their

belief.
In conclusion, using heritage assessment tool has made assessment of different ethnic groups easier for it makes the health care workers to be more cultural sensitive and cautious in how to take care of each patient that comes to the hospital. This really improves patient satisfaction and outcomes because the health care professional knows how to take care of them according to their culture and traditional practices. This make patients feel well respected and helps in the improvement of their health.