Health and Illness Cultural Believes of Taoism & Phi In Nursing Education
Health and Illness Believes of Taoism
The Tao philosophy has its roots in the belief of two opposing
magical forces in nature, the negative (yin) and the positive (yang), which
affect the course of all material and spiritual life. The basic concepts of
Chinese philosophy namely, the beliefs in to (the way of nature) and yin and
yang (the principle of balance)stress that human achievement in harmony with
nature should be accomplished through non action.
Common also is the idea that good health depends on the balance
between hot and cold. Equilibrium of hot and cold elements, it is thought,
produces good health. Thus drugs, natural elements, and foods are classified as
either hot or cold. It is believed that sickness can be caused by eating too
much hot or cold food. Hot foods include meats, sweets, and spices; cold foods
include rice and vegetables.
Illness is believed to result from an imbalance in the forces of
nature. Ill health is believed to be a curse from heaven, with mental illness
being the worst possible curse, because the individual was irresponsible in not
obtaining the right amount of rest, food, and work. The Chinese people believe
in strong family ties, respect for elders, and the authority of men as the head
of the household. Consequently, its sounds are highly valued.
Phi Health and Illness Believes
Phi worship is a belief in the spirits of dead relatives or the
spirits of animals and nature. Phi ranges from bad to good. If a place has a
strong phi, the individual must make an offering before doing anything in that
place, such as building a house or tilling the land. If someone violates a rule
of order, an atmosphere of bad phi can result in illness or death, Redemption
can be sought from a phi priest as a hope of getting relief from suffering.
Offerings are made and special rites are performed to rid the person of a bad
phi.Followers of this philosophy respect elders and avoid conflict by
doing things in a pleasant manner. Those who adhere to the phi philosophy
demonstrate hospitality and generosity. They show respect to others by the way
a person is addressed, and they tend to take hard work and ambition.
Response to Medical Advancement Regrading Health & Illness and Nursing Education
Thus, the
Asian/Pacific Islander culture values harmony in life and a balance of nature.
Shame is something to be avoided, families are the center of life, elders are
respected, and ancestors are worshiped and remembered. Children are highly
valued because they carry on the family name and are expected to care for aging
parents.
The woman’s role is one of subservience throughout her entire life she
will follow the advice of parents while unmarried, the husband’s advice while
married, and the children’s advice when widowed. For people of this ethnic
group, marked cultural differences confront them when they live in the United
States with respect to ways of life, ways of thinking. values orientation,
social structure, and family interactions (Chao, 1994; Young et al., 2002).
Children may adapt quickly to this environment, but the older generations tend
to have difficulty acculturating (Asian American Health Initiative, 2005).In addition to these philosophical beliefs and practices, just like
any other ethnic subculture, the differences in health disparities and health
concerns depend on genetics, environmental factors, access to care, and
cultural factors. (National Institutes of Health, 2016).
Kim and Keefe (2010)
address the myth that Asian Americans are the most adjusted of all ethnic
groups based on studies that for years have categorized them “as a single,
undifferentiated group rather than as distinct ethnic groups” (p. 286).
Therefore, with in group disparities have gone unreported until recently. The
major barriers to health care are language, cultural beliefs, health literacy,
health insurance, and immigrant status.
The health issues that affect Asian
Americans vary; for example, Chinese Americans are at higher risk for
hypertension (Chen & Hu, 2014), Filipino Americans have higher rates of
diabetes (Fuller Thomson, Roy, Chan, & Kobayashi, 2017), Vietnamese harbor
a stigma of viral hepatitis B ( HBV) and liver disease (Dam et al., 2016),.
Korean women have the lowest rate of cervical cancer screening (Fang et al.,
2017), Hmong Americans have a much lower rate of colorectal cancer screening
(Tong et al., 2017), Asian Americans in general are at higher risk for
depression and lower self esteem (Carrera & Wei, 2017; Choi, Israel, &
Maeda, 2017), and Asian American college women have a higher incidence of
eating disorders (Cheng, Tran, Miyake, & Kim, 2017).
The treatment and care principles that constitute the Western
biomedical model are very different from those of Eastern medicine practices.
Although Western medicine is based on the belief that external forces cause
disease, such as bacteria and viruses, that the functional ability of the body
slowly degenerates, and that disease is either physical or mental, Eastern
medicine is based on the belief that the body functions as a whole and each
part (organ) has a mental and physical role in disease and impairment.
These
differences can have a profound impact on care delivery. Traditional Asian
healing practices include herbal remedies, acupuncture, and other alternative
medicine approaches, such as coin rubbing and cupping (Carteret, 2011).
Thus, the medical practices of Asian/Pacific Islanders, like their
other unique cultural practices, differ significantly from Western ways
(Carteret. 2011: National Institutes of Health, 2016). The health-seeking
behaviors of immigrants tend to be crisis oriented, following the pattern in
their homelands where medical care was not readily available.
They are likely
to seek health care only when seriously ill. Reinforcement is needed to
encourage them to come for follow-up visits after an initial encounter with the
healthcare system. Sometimes they are viewed by practitioners as non compliant
when they do not do exactly what is expected of them, when they withdraw from
follow up treatments, or when they do not keep scheduled appointments.
Asian people make great use of herbal remedies to treat various
ills, such as fevers, diarrhea, and coughs. Dermabrasion-a practice often
misunderstood by US healthcare providers- is a home remedy implemented to cure
a wide variety of problems such as headaches, cold symptoms, fever, and chills.
In their traditional healthcare system, Asian individuals rely on folk
medicines from healers, sorcerers, and monks.
Western medicine is thought to be
“shots that cure,” and Asian patients expect to get some form of medicine
(injections or pills) whenever they seek medical help in the United States. If
no medication is prescribed, the person may feel that care is inadequate unless
an explanation is given.
Common to many Southeast Asians is the idea that illnesses, just
like foods, are classified as hot and cold. This belief coincides with the yin
and yang philosophy of the principle of balance. If a disease is considered hot
in origin, then giving cold foods is believed to be the proper treatment.
Conflict and fear are the most likely responses to laboratory tests
and having blood drawn. Many members of this ethnic group believe that removing
blood makes the body weak and that blood is not replenished. Fear of surgery
may result from the conviction that souls inhabit the body and may be released.
Another major fear is the loss of privacy leading to extreme embarrassment and
humiliation.