The Heritage Assessment Tool (HAT) is a way to asses an individual’s ethnic, religious, and cultural heritage as well as health traditions. Using this tool allows healthcare providers to deliver high quality patient care as well as develop a therapeutic relationship and healing approach. Being able to deliver high quality care to patients and families is of utmost importance for nurses. In order to be most efficient in the delivery the nurse has to be culturally competent. Being culturally competent encompasses more than just asking where a patient was born.
Cultural competence is obtaining cultural information and then applying that knowledge. This cultural awareness allows you to see the entire picture and improves the quality of care and health outcomes. Adapting to different cultural beliefs and practices requires flexibility and a respect for others view points. Cultural competence means to really listen to the patient, to find out and learn about the patient’s beliefs of health and illness (Salisbury, 2006). To provide culturally appropriate care we need to know and to understand culturally influenced health behaviors.
Heritage Assessment The definition of heritage is something inherited at birth, such as personal characteristics, status, possessions, and anything that has been transmitted form the past or handed down by tradition ("heritage," 2009). The usefulness of The Heritage Assessment Tool is that it incorporates the above definition into a twenty nine question assessment which aids the interviewer in evaluating how much a person’s heritage influences their day to day life, such as their medicinal remedies, food, clothing, religious practices and their support system. It is important for a nurse to know their own cultural background as well as their patient’s background with this knowledge the healthcare provider will be able to make accurate, intelligent and informed decisions on a patients care and how to better meet their needs and by knowing one’s own background a nurse can separate their own beliefs or possible bias which will ultimately lead to better overall care of the patient. In health care a person’s heritage, culture and religious background plays a big part of their overall health, wellness and recovery. If a healthcare worker understands the dimensions of a patient’s cultural background they will be able to develop a better plan of care for their patient.
All of us that live in the United States are part of a varied society with different ethnicities and cultures. As healthcare providers we must be competent and able to provide care that is holistic and culturally appropriate to our patients and their families. One way to do this is to understand one’s heritage by using the Heritage Assessment tool which is comprised of 29 questions and it accurately assesses and paints a clear picture of the patient’s health traditions, their beliefs and practices when it comes to maintenance, protection and restoration of health. The heritage assessment tool helps identify various traditions and heritage unique to different cultures. By having an understanding of the patients’ beliefs regarding health, sickness, diet, birth and death the healthcare providers will provide better care resulting in a better experience with better outcomes for all involved.
The United States of America is a country made up by immigrants from different backgrounds and cultures. Culture is “shaped by values, beliefs, norms, and practices that are shared by members of the same cultural group” (Edelman, 2010, p.32). In order to take a proper care of a patient nurses need to be culturally competent what means that they have to possess the skills and knowledge necessary to appreciate, respect, and work with individuals from different cultures. The Heritage Assessment Tool can be used to assess health maintenance, protection and restoration of individual cultural beliefs.” It can help you to perform a heritage assessment to determine how deeply a given person identifies with a particular tradition. It is most useful in setting the stage for understanding a person’s health traditions” (Giger & Davidhizar, 1995) To demonstrate how cultural heritage influences people in their health maintenance, health promotion and health restoration I interviewed two families, one from Chinese culture and one from Jewish culture.
In my own experience as a psychiatric nurse I have in recent years become aware of the importance of an understanding of cultural diversity. Whenever one treats or deals with patients from different cultures, one has to take into account their cultural norms and predilections in the process of nursing. This also relates to the view that nursing should be a profession that is as open as possible to the feelings and views of the patient. This means to be effective the nurse must be aware of the way that people from different cultures perceive and respond to the healing process. "This trend towards an awareness of cultural diversity is evident in many fields, including nursing and healthcare.
Therefore, if the ethical code is followed by healthcare professionals, patient and/or family members can develop confidence in their standard of care. Representation of ethical code by healthcare professionals develops patient/family confidence and provides a positive community identity. How does the organization reflect ownership and practice of ethical standards? When ethical code is written well for interpretation, employees can better apply and practice. More importantly, the organization should provide training sessions to employees to enhance their comprehension of the ethical code and values within the entity.
According to her article, in the past pumps were recommended for people who could not control their blood sugar with three to four shots a day. She lists the pro and cons of choosing between the pump and shots, such as: cost, training, maintenance and life-style. Roberts explains about the Diabetes Care study, which is a nine month test to find out which method lowers hbA1cs, helps prevent hypoglycemia, and better quality of life. She explains about new types of insulin such as the fast-acting insulin called Lispro, which mimic the body’s natural insulin response. Researchers claim with Lispro you have equally good control over diabetes (22).
1.2 Different working relationships in a Health and Social Care setting. There are many different types of working relationships in a Health and Social Care setting that all play a vital part in providing and making sure that care for individuals is upheld. These may include the actual person who is in need of support, their family and the person’s friends. The relationship between the carer and the individual needing support would be quite formal but it is important to be warm and friendly as well as polite and respectful. It is important to remain professional but at the same a certain element of empathy will be required.
Unit 52 Equality,diversity and inclusion in dementia care practice 1. Understand that each individual's experience of dementia is unique. 1.1 Explain why it is important to recognise and respect an individual's heritage. Recognising and respecting an individual's heritage is very important in a social care environment as it is what makes them who they are today. When we learn about a person's heritage we will understand the person's character, their likes and dislikes and their habits.