Understanding Health Beliefs and Practices in the Cultural Context: Chinese-Born Immigrant Women in the United States

Author(s):  
Parin Dossa

The long history of Islam in the United States is not well understood. The first Muslims to come to this country were African slaves followed by Muslims from the Ottoman Empire. As time went by, other Muslims from different parts of the world followed suit. Today, Muslims form part of the sociocultural and religious diversity of US society. A unique feature of this community is its diversity, a function of different schools of thought as well as different migration trajectories in terms of ethnicity, gender, age, class, and countries of origin. Its diversity has generated a rich body of knowledge on health care that can enrich the American biomedical model. Yet, this knowledge has been subjugated and remains unrecognized owing to structural exclusion of Muslims exacerbated by 9/11. The aim of this article is to highlight health beliefs and practices of American Muslims with the view to recognizing their contribution to American society, leading to greater acceptance of this community. In sum, beyond addressing systemic exclusion, it is important to recognize that American Muslims have a long history and richness in understanding health in diverse sociocultural milieus in Islam that can and should be recognized in clinical care.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000992282110596
Author(s):  
Alison L. Fowler ◽  
Megan E. Mann ◽  
Francisco J. Martinez ◽  
Hung-Wen Yeh ◽  
John D. Cowden

Parents’ beliefs about and approaches to their child’s health vary with culture and change within cultures over time. To provide an updated understanding of folk and traditional medicine (FTM) among Hispanic parents in the United States, we surveyed 200 caregivers identifying their child as Hispanic in a pediatric primary care clinic about their cultural health beliefs and practices. Overall, 84% of participants believed in ≥1 folk illness, with foreign-born participants more likely than US-born to endorse folk illness beliefs. Eighty-three percent had used cultural remedies for their children. Of those, although just 15% had discussed such practices with their child’s provider, 86% would feel comfortable doing so. No demographic factors predicted use of cultural remedies/healers or comfort talking to providers. Beliefs and practices related to FTM are prevalent among Hispanic parents and cannot be predicted using demographics; providers should routinely ask all families about FTM.


2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Goggin

Interest in the fate of the German psychoanalysts who had to flee Hitler's Germany and find refuge in a new nation, such as the United States, has increased. The ‘émigré research’ shows that several themes recur: (1) the theme of ‘loss’ of one's culture, homeland, language, and family; and (2) the ambiva-lent welcome these émigrés received in their new country. We describe the political-social-cultural context that existed in the United States during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Documentary evidence found in the FBI files of three émigré psychoanalysts, Clara Happel, Martin Grotjahn, and Otto Fenichel, are then presented in combination with other source material. This provides a provisional impression of how each of these three individuals experienced their emigration. As such, it gives us elements of a history. The FBI documents suggest that the American atmosphere of political insecurity and fear-based ethnocentric nationalism may have reinforced their old fears of National Socialism, and contributed to their inclination to inhibit or seal off parts of them-selves and their personal histories in order to adapt to their new home and become Americanized. They abandoned the rich social, cultural, political tradition that was part of European psychoanalysis. Finally, we look at these elements of a history in order to ask a larger question about the appropriate balance between a liberal democratic government's right to protect itself from internal and external threats on the one hand, or crossover into the blatant invasion of civil rights and due process on the other.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2110179
Author(s):  
Sei-Young Lee ◽  
Ga-Young Choi

With the theory of feminist intersectionality, this study examined intimate partner violence (IPV) among Korean immigrant women focusing on gender norms, immigration, and socioeconomic status in the contexts of Korean culture. A total of 83 Korean immigrant women who were receiving a social service from non-profit agencies in ethnically diverse urban areas were recruited with a purposive sampling method. Hierarchical regressions were conducted to examine changes in variance explained by models. Having non-traditional gender norms, a college degree or higher education, immigrant life stresses, and living longer in the United States were positively associated with IPV while having higher income and being more fluent in English were negatively associated with IPV. Findings were discussed to understand Korean immigrant women’s internal conflict affected by their higher education and more egalitarian gender norms under the patriarchal cultural norms while experiencing immigrant life stresses and living in the United States. Implication for practice was also discussed.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Jin You ◽  
Qian Lu ◽  
Michael J. Zvolensky ◽  
Zhiqiang Meng ◽  
Kay Garcia ◽  
...  

Purpose Literature has documented the prevalence of anxiety and its adverse effect on quality of life among patients with breast cancer from Western countries, yet cross-cultural examinations with non-Western patients are rare. This cross-cultural study investigated differences in anxiety and its association with quality of life between US and Chinese patients with breast cancer. Methods Patients with breast cancer from the United States and China completed measures for anxiety (Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast). Results After controlling for demographic and medical characteristics, Chinese patients reported higher levels of trait and state anxiety than US patients. Although there was an association between anxiety and quality of life in both groups of patients, the association between state anxiety and quality of life was stronger among Chinese patients than among US patients, with the association between trait anxiety and quality of life the same between the two cultural samples. Conclusion These findings suggest that anxiety and its association with quality of life among patients with breast cancer varies depending on cultural context, which reveals greater anxiety and poorer quality of life among Chinese patients compared with US patients. This suggests greater unmet psychosocial needs among Chinese patients and highlights the need to build comprehensive cancer care systems for a better quality of life in Chinese populations.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Úrsula A. Aragunde-Kohl ◽  
Yahaira Segarra-González ◽  
Liza M. Meléndez-Samó ◽  
Ivemarie Hernández-Rivera ◽  
Carolina Quiles-Peña

Abstract The purpose of this research was to better understand the beliefs and practices that the residents of Puerto Rico have regarding cockfighting, including their perception of the recently passed prohibition against nonhuman animal fighting on the island. It had an exploratory descriptive design consisting of three phases, where the qualitative data obtained from phase one would guide the process of identifying variables that could be measured. In the second phase, an instrument was developed, and in the third, it was administered. Most of the participants agreed with the prohibition of cockfighting in Puerto Rico and that it was necessary. The data showed that there is a disconnect between what the federal government of the United States legislated, what the local government and agencies that were supposed to enforce the prohibition did with the legislation, and what the people directly affected by the legislation received for education and guidance.


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