Assignment Prompt & Instructions
You should respond to both discussions separately–with constructive literature material- extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts.
Minimum 150 words each reply with references under each reply.
Incorporate a minimum of 2 current (published within the last five years) scholarly journal articles or primary legal sources (statutes, court opinions) within your work. Journal articles should be referenced according to the current APA style (the online library has an abbreviated version of the APA Manual).
Discussion 1
A. Health and Illness Practices Influencing Hypertension Treatment in Chinese Americans
Chinese Americans frequently incorporate Western medicine with traditional health beliefs and practices, and this could affect the management of chronic conditions such as hypertension. They rely on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in their healthcare decisions, with many keeping the faith in the balance of yin and yang that is required for health (Giger & Haddad, 2021). Herbal remedies, acupuncture and dietary changes are often used to achieve the balance and can complement or clash with the prescribed antihypertensive medication.
The use of herbal treatments for hypertension that interfere with pharmaceutical drugs is a major problem. For example, the use of herbs such as ginseng and licorice root that are frequently used in TCM may increase blood pressure or interfere with blood pressure medications (Zhou et al., 2020). Chinese Americans also may prefer to treat hypertension through dietary means, such as eating less “hot” foods (e.g., fried foods and meats) and more “cool” foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables). While these practices may not always agree with medical recommendations, they may not make the person adhere to the prescribed medications.
Cultural factors such as stoicism and subjective acceptance of illness with prevalence of public shaming of those who fall ill consequently delay the use of treatment or adherence to long term plans for medication consumption. Therefore, physicians and nurses need to include cultural competency, which will involve understanding these practices, educating patients about their possible interaction, and adopting culturally adapted strategies for effective hypertension management.
B. Locus of Control and Health-Seeking Behavior in Filipino Americans
The term locus of control pertains to an individual’s belief regarding the degree to which one can control health outcomes. Filipino Americans often have a strong external locus of control, believing that health and illness are controlled by external forces (divine will, fate, social and family support) (Giger & Haddad, 2021). This belief may have a decisive effect on health seeking behavior through delayed medical consultation and recourse to spiritual or traditional healing.
Filipino Americans usually rely on prayer and religious faith when health problems arise. In fact, they may think hypertension or other conditions are caused by God’s will and turn to religious rituals or faith healing before seeking medical help (David & Nadal, 2021). It can even cause reluctance to adopt preventive measures including lifestyle modifications and following medication.
One other cultural factor that may influence health seeking behavior is the concept of hiya (shame) and pakikisama (smooth interpersonal relationships). For many Filipino Americans, they avoid talking about health issues openly because they do not want to burden others or be seen as weak. Therefore, they may ignore symptoms, treat themselves with drugs, or seek other forms of treatment without turning to proper healthcare professionals as soon as possible. Gap in hypertension treatment adherence can be bridged through culturally sensitive interventions like faith-based community education program and family-oriented health care approaches.
C. Importance of Folk Medicine and Folk Healers to Vietnamese Americans
Vietnamese Americans often integrate western medicine with traditional healing practices based in Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist principles. Due to their role in health beliefs and treatment, many individuals consult folk healers, herbalists, or spiritual practitioners before consulting Western trained healthcare providers (Giger & Haddad, 2021).
Among folk healing practice, “coining” (cáo gó) is one of them; rubbing a coin along the skin to release the 'bad wind' or the toxin that is believed to be the cause of illness. Additionally, "cupping" (giác hơi) utilizes hot glass cups that are placed on the skin to induce suction and enhance circulation as well as relieving pain. These practices may not be harmful on their own, but bruising can result, which can be confused as abuse or neglect by health care providers not familiar with Vietnamese tradition (Hoang et al., 2020).
Herbal medicine is also heavily relied on by Vietnamese Americans to treat hypertension and other ailments. Ginseng and hawthorn are common herbal treatments that could interact with prescribed antihypertensive medications. Many do not disclose use of natural remedies to doctors because of a deep-rooted distrust of pharmaceutical drugs. Also, Buddhist principles are holistic, meaning it stresses meditation, diet, and acupuncture as a form of treatment.
Vietnamese American patients should be approached in a culturally sensitive and respectful way to their traditional practices by healthcare providers. Awareness among medical practitioners towards folk remedies and their possible interactions with prescribed medications together with understanding the value of such cultural beliefs in improving patients' adherence to medical treatment are necessary.
Discussion 2
**Health Practices that may augment problems for Chinese American clients.**
The majority of Chinese Americans believe that illness is a result from an imbalance between Yin and Yang. Food is equally divided into Yin and Yang and is believed to help with the illness imbalance (Gigi & Haddad, 2021). Many Chinese Americans frequently take Western pharmaceuticals in addition to traditional Chinese medicine; this combination might have potent effects making the condition harder to control. For instance, a Chinese American patient may take ginseng, a hypertensive, to control hypertension alongside prescribed medication (Gigi & Haddad, 2021)
**Locus-of-control variable of Filipino Americans that may influence health-seeking behavior**
A psychological concept known as locus of control describes views about how one's behaviors affect life outcomes; they can be external locus of control, beliefs that fate or chance determines results, such as success or failure or internal locus of control, beliefs that efforts determine whether they succeed or fail (Fernandez et al., 2024). Filipino Americans believe that both natural and supernatural factors are to blame for illness. Filipino American patients might treat the disease using folk medicine or home remedies if it is believed to be the cause of an internal locus of control, whereas if the patient believes the illness is the cause of an external locus of control they might recur to folk medicine; however, if the illness persists, the patient might look for conventional medicine treatment (Gigi & Haddad, 2021). Conventional medicine systems and folk medicine are used side by side in the Philippines today; choosing between these two strategies is influenced by several elements that influence an individual's decision to seek medical attention. Their health-seeking behavior can be significantly influenced by factors like, culture, inherited health approaches, familial background, geographic location, educational level, socioeconomic status, environment, lifestyle, local healthcare systems, and attitudes toward medical professionals (Rondilla et al., 2021). Additionally, a person's religion and spiritual awareness make them more likely to see therapeutic value in intuition or faith rather than in scientific logic (Rondilla et al., 2021).
**Importance of folk medicine and folk healers to Vietnamese Americans**
The Vietnamese population increased after the mid-1970s where many arrived as refugees. Vietnam has a lengthy history of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine, TVM. Contacts with various cultures, including Chinese and, more recently, European and American civilizations, have affected several indigenous folk cures, herbal remedies, and behaviors (Nguyen et al., 2021). TVM is significant to Vietnamese Americans, particularly the elder generations who still hold strong ties to traditional Vietnamese health concepts (Nguyen et al., 2021).
– 2 years ago