Non Traditional Health Care Practive. Health & Medicine Essay
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Assignment Benchmark - Nontraditional Health Care Practices
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Research different popular nontraditional health care practices. Write a 1,000-word paper exploring nontraditional health care practices and include the following:
- Describe nontraditional health care practices in different cultures. Compare at least three cultures.
- Explain how these practices affect wellness and prevention in different cultures.
- Identify the nontraditional health care options in your areas, and identify the number of people choosing to use them over traditional medical practices. Propose reasons why the number of people using nontraditional health care options is rising.
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Health Care Practices and Practitioners
Introduction
Current health care practices include voodoo, herbal remedies, osteopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine, acupuncture, reflexology, yoga, meditation, hypnosis, biofeedback, aromatherapy, diet therapy, homeopathy, faith healing, massage therapy, alignment with nature, naturopathic medicine, prayer, online medical advice, healing stones, weight loss plans, vitamins....and so on. Mankind searches for good health and long life. Practices vary from culture to culture, from time to time, and from need to need. Television tells the populace how to cure everything from psoriasis, to obesity, and to stroke. Families hold on to "cures" that have been handed down from generation to generation and are guaranteed to work. Some do work; some, however, are potentially harmful. The search goes on.
Prayer
One third of all Americans use some type of alternative medicine to at least complement traditional medicine. The most common alternative "medicine" is prayer. Two thirds of Americans use prayer, but that prayer may not be addressed to God. Prayer for the sick may take place in mosques, ashrams, "healing rooms," home prayer groups, or churches. In time of desperation, however, most people turn to a higher being.
Researchers are trying to learn whether or not prayer works. Articles pop up in health magazines, such as Prevention, which suggest that prayer seems to aid the ill. Other articles dispel this idea. People who are devoutly religious have long been considered healthier than normal, but prayer has not necessarily been given credit. The devout usually live a lifestyle free from smoking, drugs, and alcohol. They seem to live a more peaceful lifestyle, which contributes to good health. Health care professionals must reconcile their own religious beliefs with the extent of support they offer with respect to the preferences of the patient.
A doctor who was going to perform surgery was asked by his patient if he believed in God. He acknowledged that he did believe in a higher being. The patient asked him if he would hold hands with her and her husband while they prayed. He did. The request seems small, but it could become monumental. What if the doctor was Moslem? What if the patient was praying to an ancestor or to a pagan god? Would the being addressed withhold participation in a comforting ritual? This is a cause for thought.
Harmful or Harmless
While prayer to a spiritual being is harmless, some health practices are harmful. Some cultures and some religions prohibit the use of transfusions. Some do not allow immunizations. Some believe that illness is caused by the body being "out of sync" in some way, and have their own practitioners who can tell what the problem is and how harmony can be restored. Likewise, a spiritual leader or health practitioner may need to be consulted before a transfusion or organ transplant can take place. The culture may have a prohibition against "unusual" means to continue life.
Prior to seeking traditional medical help, a patient may have consulted various herbalists and other healers. Most people believe that herbs are harmless; however, the combination of certain herbs and certain medicines may be destructive. Sometimes the patient, feeling that the health professional will disapprove, will hide the fact that potions have been taken. It is important that the caretaker is informed about folk practices so the correct questions can be asked to get the most accurate information before prescribing care.
Facing the Unknown
Attitude is everything. Fear stems from the unknown. Ethnic groups may fear traditional medicine because they do not understand it. Healers within the culture are well known and thus are trusted. The "foreign" doctors practice a medicine that is physically invasive, and their medicines are chemical and far different from familiar folk medicines. The doctor touching the patient may be of the opposite gender. Going into a hospital is seen as losing control of one's health. Much emphasis is placed in many groups on being strong and being in charge of one's pain. People in hospitals are wheeled to x-ray rooms and to suffocating MRI machines and CAT-scan equipment. Nurses come and give unknown medications on the instruction of a doctor who is not there. Needles and IVs invade the body. Visitors are restricted, when families are normally in attendance when one is ill. There is fear. Perhaps death is imminent. Where are the loved ones? Why will no one explain what is happening? Why are patients not permitted to stay at home, under the care of people who love them? Then...there is night time in a hospital!
A well-informed health care professional can reduce the fears of culturally different patients by helping them to understand what is happening. Communication with the patient or family member in charge can ease the fear. Knowing that a small talisman being kept on the table is important can bring peace to the patient.
Conclusion
There is so much to know. Who is stoically bearing pain unnecessarily? Who is moaning and groaning excessively because that is what their culture does? Who is not revealing everything, for fear of rejection or for fear of not being able to pay the cost of the health care? There is so much knowledge needed for the transcultural health care professional. Fortunately, the textbook provides a wealth of information.
Transcultural Caring Dynamics in Nursing and Health Care.
Read Chapters 15, 22, and 23 in Transcultural Caring Dynamics in Nursing and Health Care.
https://www(dot)gcumedia(dot)com/digital-resources/fa-davis/2016/transcultural-caring-dynamics-in-nursing-and-health-care_2e.php
e-Library Resource
1. A Partnership of a Catholic Faith-Based Health System, Nursing and Traditional American Indian Medicine Practitioners
Read "A Partnership of a Catholic Faith-Based Health System, Nursing and Traditional American Indian Medicine Practitioners," by Hubbert, from Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession (2008).
https://lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com(dot)lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/docview/203165683?accountid=7374
2. Health and Healing - Traditional Medicine and the Karen Experience
Read "Health and Healing: Traditional Medicine and the Karen Experience," by Oleson, O’Fallon, Sherwood, and Chute, from the Journal of Cultural Diversity (2012).
https://lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login?url=http://search(dot)ebscohost(dot)com(dot)lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=2011602894&site=ehost-live&scope=site
3. Spirit Doctors
View the "Spirit Doctors" video, from Films on Demand, available through the GCU Library.
https://lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login?url=http://digital(dot)films(dot)com(dot)lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=12129&xtid=52040
4. The Cultural Diversity of Healing - Meaning, Metaphor, and Mechanism
Read "The Cultural Diversity of Healing: Meaning, Metaphor, and Mechanism," by Kirmayer, from Heart Views (2013).
https://lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login?url=http://search(dot)proquest(dot)com(dot)lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/docview/1321136007?accountid=7374
Website
1. Culture Clues
Explore the "Culture Clues" section of the Patient and Family Education Services page of the University of Washington Medical Center website.
http://depts(dot)washington(dot)edu/pfes/CultureClues.htm
Non Traditional Health Care Practice
Name
Institution
Nontraditional Health Care Practices
Non-traditional health care practices are increasingly being adopted in different countries by some people to replace conventional support medicine. These practices use varied treatment options that are not applied by medical physicians. The most used techniques work with natural energy, body systems, and balances to have healing initiated within the body. These techniques are supported in numerous cultures. This essay will compare the use of non-traditional health care practices in three cultures, explain how these practices affect wellness, and the options within my town as well as why large numbers of people are choosing them.
Nontraditional Health Care Practices in Different Cultures
It is notable that some cultures implement non-traditional health care practices. The beliefs and skills associated with these are usually passed from a generation to another. The considered cultures, in this case, are the Maori in New Zealand, the Chinese, and Native Americans.
The Native Americans
Even though the Native Americans practice some non-traditional healthcare, skills, all are based on the assumption that human beings form part of the existence. This means that health and nature are considered as an issue of balance. Since then, the natural balance between nature and human health succeeds if the complicated relationship is nurtured, honored, and kept in harmony. While some medical practices with Native American culture are not studied yet, there is evidence that these practices align with modern medicine. For instance, they use a pain remedy using the willow tree bark. Since the tree has acetylsalicylic acid, which is the same content used for Aspirin, it means that their pain remedy is effective (McMurray & Clendon, 2011).
The Maori Culture in New Zealand
The Maoris practice a combination of non-traditional health care practices. Their practices are based on a holistic approach to care in which a person’s psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing has to be ensured. As a result, the major used alternative treatments are chiropractic, massage, osteopathy, homeopathy, naturopathy, hypnotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, and spiritual healing. Chiropractic is meant to adjust a person’s spine in order to correct problems and thus have the body heal itself. Massage is used for fixing strains and aches and also makes the body relax. Also, osteopathy is a gentle manipulation of the body to address imbalances in varied parts. Homeopathy is done on the belief that substances causing disease symptoms in a healthy individual can treat symptoms in a patient. As a result, remedies are done through dilution of substances, including minerals and plants. Naturopathy usually involves a combination of he...
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