Cultural Diversity and Community Health Nursing

Cultural Diversity and Community Health Nursing

Cultural diversity is a complex and multifaceted concept that involves understanding the difference between individuals in terms of values, beliefs, attitudes, ways of living, customs, norms, and behaviors. It is essential for nurses to study the concept of cultural diversity to understand people’s way of life, how they define health, and how healthcare providers treat their community members. Analyzing cultural diversity will also help nurses to understand how their cultural background can influence them when providing healthcare services. This paper discusses Filipino Americans culture, shared beliefs and practices, nations and origins, communications, social organizations, biological variation, healthcare practices, common diseases, and nursing implications.

Filipino Americans Culture

The 2020 census data indicated that more than four million Filipinos live in the United States. They have large communities in Hawaii, California, Texas, Illinois, and New York (milo et al., 2021). The Filipino Americans have a culture of depending on each other financially, emotionally, and psychologically. Their culture reflects a system of mutual support and cooperation that helps each member enjoy a sense of belonging. According to Filipino Americans, kinship relations must be valued regardless of whether they are defined by fictive kinship, marriage, or blood.

In addition, Filipino families in the United States believe in a culture of solidarity and loyalty. Individuals can sacrifice their desires and interests to save the entire family. Their cultural behavior of living as a family has created solid interpersonal relationships that guide them in their daily activities. Therefore, they freely live with each other without conflict because their culture discourages open aggression or anger. It is also worth pointing out that their relationship is maintained by reciprocal obligations, which means that an individual must reciprocate a service or a favor. It is a shame (hiya) if an individual performs against the cultural expectations of the Filipino American. A person’s self-esteem (Amor Proprio) is another cultural value much sensitive in Filipino American culture (Nadal, 2020). Filipino Americans do not like the behavior of criticizing others because it is a way of shaming others.

Common Beliefs and Practices

Filipino Americans believe in gender equality because men and women are respected equally. Women are allowed to participate in education, politics, and economic management, and they can also make family decisions. Regarding their religious beliefs, most Filipino Americans are Roman Catholics and Christians (Kater, 2022). However, a smaller percentage of Filipino Americans are Muslims. Another common belief among Filipino Americans is that an adult is not supposed to step over a child because it can stunt growth. This belief has been passed from one generation to another for many years. However, no evidence supports this belief. Scientifically, the major factors that influence growth are social-economic status, hormones, sex, genes, and nutrition. Another belief is that going to bed with wet hair can cause insanity and blindness. However, studies that have been carried out show that sleeping with wet hair can only cause hair damage because of friction. Lastly, Filipino American also believe in safety, and that is the reason why they still perform “pamahiin,” which is a practice that involves showering salt on the door of a new house to prevent the whole family from sickness. However, they know that salt cannot save a person from diseases, but they still carry out the practice to be safe and avoid future regrets.

Filipino Americans Nations of Origin

Filipino Americans migrated to the United States in three waves. The first wave originated from China between 1565 and 1815. They escaped from slaves trading ships and passed through Mexico before settling in Louisiana, among other regions of the United States. The second wave included the immigrants from Filipino Islands after the country gained independence from the American colonizers in 1946. Finally, from 1965 to the present,  This group comprises well-educated individuals, most of whom migrate to America for further education or to look for job opportunities.

Communications

The majority of Filipino Americans speak Filipino and American English. They speak English because they were colonized by Americans who influenced their education system (Martin, 2020). Their communication style is different from that of other cultures. Therefore, learning and understanding their communication style is essential to developing a good relationship with them. For instance, Filipino Americans communicate freely because they encourage the behavior of being open to each other. Their communication style is also high-context and uses indirect language (Jurado, 2018). It means that the receiver of the message must be a good listener to understand the information conveyed. It is also important to note their nonverbal communication style, such as facial expressions and body language because they do not communicate clearly.

Social Organization

The social organization of Filipino Americans follows a specific pattern, but sometimes variations occur because of the local traditions. The Christian Filipinos’ social organization is based on personal alliance systems that focus on kin, partners, and friends in commercial exchange. Kinship starts with the nuclear family, where every person is supposed to be loyal to other family members. Some bonds are also created through rituals such as marriage, confirmation, and baptism (Gutierrez, 2019). In this situation, an individual can expect favors such as gifts during occasions, loans, or jobs. Filipino Americans also have commercial content, a bond between two individuals, one being the supplier and the other the customer. This marks why Filipino Americans buy from specific suppliers because they believe they will enjoy the benefits of credits, good quality products, and reduced prices.

Biological Variations and Healthcare practices

Various biological differences can be noted among Filipino Americans. First, Filipino Americans have dark brown eyes. Also, most individuals have thick, curly or wavy hair that is black. Regarding the issue of health practices, Filipino Americans usually depend on family members and friends to cope with illnesses (Alviar & Del Prado, 2022). In most cases, the healthcare decisions of Filipino Americans are influenced by their family members. However, most Filipino Americans who migrated from rural areas depend on traditional healing methods, but those who migrated from urban areas rely on American medical interventions.

Common Diseases

Some common diseases affecting Filipino Americans include pneumonia, influenza, chronic lower respiratory disease, diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular disease, malignant neoplasms, and heart diseases. Some of these diseases commonly affect Filipino Americans because they engage in risky health behaviors. For example, the major risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease affecting Filipino Americans are excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, and physical inactivity (Bhimla et al., 2019). Filipino Americans’ alcohol intake and smoking rates are high compared to other Asians who live in America.

Implications for Nursing

Filipino Americans believe that a family is the primary unit of social organization and family relations are essential. Therefore, many nursing implications are based on family organization and structure. Therefore, nurses always consider the presence of family members when providing care to Filipino American patients. However, Filipino Americans’ family structures differ depending on the migration wave. Therefore, different Filipino Americans may demand different healthcare needs and approaches. The second nursing implication is that the third-wave immigrants are more educated than the first and second-wave immigrants. Therefore, a nurse should always involve family members when dealing with the first and second immigrant clients because they have a low understanding. For example, they may ignore some health-related issues because they believe everything occurs according to the will of God (Serafica et al., 2019). Therefore, they believe in prayers more than the care services provided in healthcare facilities.

Conclusion

More than four million Filipino Americans are living in the United States today. They have a culture of solidarity and loyalty and live as a family. Promoting equality is one of their common belief because women are not discriminated against in social activities. They also have other beliefs, such as showering salt on the door of a new house to prevent the whole family from sickness. Filipino American nations of origin include China and the Philippines. Regarding communication, they speak English and Filipino. Also, their communication is high-context, and they talk indirectly. Filipino Americans depend on family members and friends to cope with illness. Some of the common diseases that affect them include pneumonia, influenza, chronic lower respiratory disease, diabetes mellitus, cerebrovascular disease, malignant neoplasms, and diseases of the heart. In addition, there are also some nursing implications where nurses should involve family members when providing healthcare services. Also, a nurse should understand that third-wave immigrants are more educated than the rest.

References

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