My Family Heritage Assessment

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Heritage Assessment The heritage assessment was an interesting tool. After taking the assessment, I realized that I am the third generation born in America. My family comes from many different cultures, Italian, Irish, Polish and German, so the traditions that my family has are a combination of many different cultures and have changed as they have been passed down from each generation. I have friends from many different cultures and you will see when I compare my traditions to theirs how some of our traditions are similar and some are very different. My family’s cultural traditions have been greatly influenced by the many members that were and are currently involved in the medical field. We believe in taking steps to prevent illness…show more content…
In all three cultures, they believe in eating healthy. For example, the Jewish culture follows the laws of Kashrut, or kosher. Many modern Jews think that the laws of kashrut are simply primitive health regulations that have become obsolete with modern methods of food preparation. There is no question that some of the dietary laws have some beneficial health effects. For example, the laws regarding kosher slaughter are so sanitary that kosher butchers and slaughterhouses have been exempted from many USDA regulations (Mamre, 2010). The Italians follow Mediterranean diet, which is a healthy mix of pasta, beans, fruits and vegetables with meats and seafood’s, all served in small portions. Although the diet is not low in fat, the principal fat being olive oil, it is linked to lower rates of heart disease (Skiff, 1997). They also all believed that smoking, alcohol (in excess), and drugs are detrimental to ones health and should be avoided. As I said earlier, the Italian culture is not believers of detecting illness early. I questioned why they believed this, and was told that was what they were taught and it went back many…show more content…
All three cultures believe in helping the client through their recovery period. The Italian culture will have the family member move in with them so that they can take care of them. The Jewish culture also believes in health restoration but there are limits, of course. Judaism does not sanction treatments, medicines or procedures that are overly experimental or speculative. There must be a reasonable chance of success or benefit. Similarly, a Jew is not allowed to undertake activities which clearly endanger health. The use of drugs, for example, is permitted in order to improve health or reduce pain; one is not required to suffer needlessly. However, the teachings of most authorities would prohibit the use of drugs taken for the purpose of providing a “high” or a mind-altering experience, because of the dangers involved to the user and others (My Jewish Leaning,

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