Student: Sandeep Grewal Student No: 820-302-743 Date Submitted: October 11th, 2013 NURS 160 - 05 Professor: Mary MeGrory Humber CollegeIntroduction I personelly believe the definition of health is a balanced state of person which include not only physical, but mental, spiritual, cultural and economic factors. The two determinant health factors that influence my health practice are income or social status and education: How your cultural belief affect your health and strategies which may utilize to improve those personal health practice. In this assignment, I am going to compare and contrast my health believes and practices with one other classmate’s health beliefs from a different culture. In the end of the page. resulting from the comparative learning, I will analyze how my nursing prectice may now be influenced and the conclusion based on this assignment. Own definition of health Good health is the decisions which we make to feed our mind, body and spirit. Our body is a valuable possession. Thus, itis our responsibility to take good care of our health and feed it with nutritious feods. We cannot define health only as an absence of disease, it should also be a good balance of mental, physical, and spiritual state. WHO(World Health Organization) define as “ a state of complete physical, mental and Social well being not merely the absence of ase or infirmity” (fundamental of nursing, SMedition,pg2), Rationale As itis evident, our physical, mental, economic and social condition is interrelated to each other. Health is not just absence of disease but it is balanced state of affair between body. mind, and spirit. It is demonstrates that mentally and physically healthy person is more capable to cope with stress and life related problems. I believe that positive mental attitude and good physicalhealth together create a healthy environment. Health has a great impact on our relationship, work and family. ‘The two determiaant health factors that influence our health is income and socia’ status, and Education. 1. Income and social status It has been observed that people with good income and soci status have better health. They have better opportunities and available resources than the people who are socially and economically insecure. They are also more receptive and aware of health problem. Comparatively, People of low social economic status remain unfaithful and virally tangled in these problems . Hence, they create much stress and strain in their life. People with less income died earlier due to stress, disease and hunger. They prefer to eat junk food rather than healthy nutritional meal as it is more affordable, Which is the cause of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and deficiency of vitamins. Sometime poverty indulges them in illegal activities for better future, but they have to face consequences for their deeds Education People who are less educated are less aware of health and their response to health awarene’ is poor, leading them into poor physical health in the form of illness and ailments. Illiterate people do not have knowledge about the disease prevention. Moreover, they do not have many resources to increase their knowledge regarding health issues. Illiterate people do not have many job cpportunities which leads them toward poverty and stress related problems. Low- income families often live in substandard houses where they do not get good air and water supplies. They usually use alcohol and smoke to relieve stress. Children of these families aremore prone for s:tess and abuse related problem as their parents do not have enough time to spend with their kids. They have to work more hours to fulfill basic amenities. My Cultural belief that impact on health Cultural belief reflect our mental behavior and compel us to create an environment which may or may not be good for our health. Cultural belief has a large impact on medical care. In our culture, People prefer to treat their illness’ with home remedies instead of me al treatment, unfortunately it can delay the medical treatment and they may face consequences for that. Due to religious values, most people prefer to be vegetarian, but in the nutritional point of view they are not having sufficient amount of iron, protein, and vitamin which leads to many health disease such as anemia, malnutrition etc. Furthermore, the eldest person is considered to be the head of the family and their decision is often unquestioned. They let their elders to decide their health matters. They view medical illness as a shame or disgrace for the family so they use every mean to hide that illness from society and avoid seeking medical advice, Strategies may use to improve health practice Health promotion and health prevention is interrelated. Primary prevention is considered to be a health promotion and give more emphasis on primary preventive measure such as immunization and reduction of risk factor such as smoking, and polluted air. Good health, promotes the positive attitude toward life. It requires proper diet which include required amount of calories. Health is a continued process to encounter the harmful effect on our body. Regular exercise and meditation will keep our body balanced and healthy. As healthcare providers, we should put emphasis on educating family rather than effected individual. Indivicuals should spare some time for activities that bring happiness and joy in their life. Health provider should‘maintain a trustful and healthy relationship with individual and family so that they do not hesitate to discuss their health problem and follow his advice, We should educete them about the importance of social support system and give them resources so that they can get help or rely on their resource, teach them to have a positive approach through the thick and thin of life Contrast and compare Indian health belief with Canadian health belief Every country whether they are developing or developed have some negative and positive aspect. If we contrast India with Canada based on income ot social status and education, than we can find out that in India’s health facilities depend upon the socioeconomic status of a person. Higher income aeople can easily afford the cost of expensive diagnostic procedure and treatment whereas, in Canada, the health fi ities are universally accessible. In India, low income people are at isk of respiratory problems and communicable diseases, as they live in substandard houses where they are exposed to second hand smoking. Their neighborhoods are usually found in industries and noisy area where the air quality is not clean and sanitation services are also not hygienic and maintained. On the other hand, in Canada, housing qualities and sanitation are better and hygienic. Illiteracy level is high in India compared to Canada as education is not approachable so there income resourees are also limited which directly affect their nutritional status. Illiteracy makes their confidence level and problem solving skill low in contrast to Canadians where they have more sense of control and mastery over life circumstances. Canadians are more open to health problem and more eager to avail the best available health advice. They are more susceptible to the medical recourses where as In Indian, Jue to illiteracy have an upper hand in supernatural and home remedies.While comparing India to Canada due to fast pace life, it triggered many stresses which leads them to unstable mental condition. People become more socially isolated and their social support system (family, friend and relatives) are in good term because they. are tangled with their work stress and personal problem that they do not have time for social network. Due to technology and labor less work, people are living more sedentary life which leads them to obesity and card'o vascular problem. Now a days, people do not have enough time to cook so they prefer to eat junk and canned preservative food which directly affect our health. Resulting comparative learning, analyze how your nursing practice may now be influenced. Culture is the group of people who share the same language, thought, value, religion and belief. Knowledge of cultural diversity is important in all kinds of nursing practice. Each society has their own cultural belief which could be different from a different cultural belief of health care provider, Scmetimes, unfortunately, these differences act as a bartier to provide good health practice. The more we try to understand the health belief'and health problems of different culture, the easier it is to impart good nursing at root level. For example, in Asian culture more time is needed to convince the family than the effected individual. Some cultures prefer to visit same sex health care provider and want limited physical contact. Understanding of all these facts, help us to maintein good relationship. Health provider should not impose their own thinking, values and belief on client. They should respect client views and preferences. A health care provider cannot force them to follow the health strategi but educate them about the importance of medical treatment and procedure. Care giver should know all the client are individual and lunique, so while providing care it always should be a client — centered care, which mean focus is always on client needs during assessment and_plan the care, Care giver can involve the client and his preferences, at the point where no risk wolved to client health , while making the careplan for client. With that Client will feel more control over his own life and sense of being usefull. Health care provider should find a w: or develop a new method by which positive health environment is providing to client without violating client belief or standard of practice. Conclusion To conclude, health is not only considered to be a physical concept, but social, mental and economics should also be considered to be a very important to enjoy every zeal and zest in ‘humans life. If a person is physically fit but he is mentally ill or socially isolated, he cannot be a productive perscn in society. While treating the person, we cannot just concentrate on one area or aspect of health, as all the factors are interrelated to each other. There are many health determinants that affect an individual's health, Health providers cannot avoid those factor but they can advocate th \dividual about their right and educate them about the available resources to prevent illness and promote health. Culture believes are the soul of the individual. We cannot separate them, but we ean ad them to adapt new treatment and slight change in their life style to live life in harmony. Finally, if a health care provider is aware of individual cultural and health belief, it will be easy to maintain patient nurse relationship.Reference Potter &Perry Canadian Fundamental of Nursing, edition 5, pg2 Potter &Perry Canadian Fundamental of Nursing, edition 5", pg 7.11 ttp://www.cne.org/Global/docs/prac/41040_CulturallySens.pgf (culturally sensitive care)