Fundamentals of Nursing Practice

Filipino Culture Values related to Health Care Journal

Perception of health and health practices of five Filipino elders

This journal of nursing skills and the experience was published by Nena Boneul of Houston Methodist
Hospital in Texas, United States. This journal was first made available publicly on December 20, 2017.
The journal focuses on five Filipino elders' perceptions of health and cultural practices, with an emphasis
on their insights into health practices, the usage of herbal therapies, and dietary practices of the
Filipinos. As we all know we Filipinos are known to be resilient. This journal describes us bamboo trees
that bend when the wind blows and go straight back up again when the wind stops. It means that we
Filipinos have the ability and a capacity to recover quickly from difficult life events of our lives. The
journal also stated the different unique characteristics of being a Filipino. There are only 5 chosen
Filipino respondents in this study. The basic oral interviewing techniques were used to question the
elders about their perspectives on health and health practices. The first thing that they asked for the
respondents is about their perception of being a healthy individual. For the Filipinos being healthy is
having a beautiful body, not fat or thin, being happy, being active, beautiful, and satisfied in life.” Their
concept of a healthy person seemed to include the physical as well as the mental wellbeing of an
individual. According to this study, this concept is supported by Chin and Bigby (2012) who indicated
that health is viewed as holistic and life energies need to be balanced through the linkage of mind, body,
and soul. The second question that they asked is what is the characteristic of a healthy person. For the
Filipino’s responded being beautiful, active, dieting, and looks good.

The general theme that the Filipino elders believe regarding health is that it is a state of balance
between the physical and mental well-being of the individual. Any sort of physical activity such as
walking, stretching, and dancing is important to be incorporated into the daily routine to be healthy. To
have a good outlook in life is equally important to be healthy.

The Filipino cultures, values and practices

 Responding to illness a the older adults tend to cope with illness withe help of family and friends
and more so by faith of God
 They have a fatalistic Resignation (Bahala Na) in which they that illness and suffering are the
unavoidable and predestined will of God in which the patient , family members and even the
physicians should not interfere with
 Filipino believe in the conceding to the wishes of the collective that is (Pakikisama) to be able to
maintain group harmony
 The essence of flexibility(Lakas ng Loob) which brings respectful and honest in oneself
 The essence on patience and endurance(Tiyaga) which leads to the ability to tolerate uncertain
situations in the healthcare sector

2.Negative Filipino cultures, values, and practices

  The essence on mental illness which brings difficulty in utilizing mental health services during
usual hours as due to the unavailability of working adult family members
 Essence on mental illness in unwillingness to accept having mental illness that leads to the
avoidance of needed mental health services due to fear of being ridiculed
 Mental illness connotes a weak spirit and might be attributed to divine retribution as a result of
personal and ancestral transgression
 Beliefs on mental illness has led to the limited awareness of mental health services which results
in limited access
 The involvement of others coping resources like reliance on family and friends or indigenous
healers and dependence on religion that can diminish the need for mental health services

3. How to provide culturally competent nursing care

 Like avoiding making assumptions as this cultures can lead to a breakdown of trust and rapport
between the nurse and the patient also minimize the treatments acceptance
 Creation of awareness as encouraging the workers to provide more competence care like
approach sharing awareness with openness and positivity rather then from a critical point of
view
 Building trust and rapport proper use of body language and eye contact which are more
important to dis[lay openness a nd looking the patients when speaking to them or either their
family members
 Overcoming language barriers as to effectively communicate with a patient to ask them about
their history or to educate them about procedure , language barrier should be broken in some
way
 Educating patients about medical practices as like patients from some cultural backgrounds
needs further education on how to manage at home on their own hence might need to blend
new practices with cultural traditions in order to maintain their health
 Learning about other cultures as the healthcare only reaches its full potential when the whole
patients is considered like the family members, their day to day life and their culture

4.Factors considered in the healthcare system that facilitate culturally competent nursing care

 Cultural competency training for healthcare providers like creating interventions programs like
aiming at improving knowledge which is group specific and programs that apply generic or
universal models
 Cultural competence interventions which improve the ability of providers to provide healthcare
services to patients who unlike the providers culture
 Establishment of intervention which help i n assisting patients from priority population to
competently navigate the patient provider relationship and the larger health system
 The interventions which educate providers and to look for the common secondary conditions
specific to the conditions to the target population
 Establishment of interventions which help in addressing physical barriers to access