Health and Illness Beliefs in Assessments

Impact of Health and Illness Beliefs in the
Assessment Process

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Impact of Health and Illness Beliefs in the
Assessment Process

There is a wide range of varying
aspects that influence the assessment process of patients. Significant factors
include health and to cultural values,
backgrounds, norms, and religion. Proficient healthcare practitioners need to
be well-equipped with cultural competence to enhance the nurses understanding
of of patients (Davy et al., 2017). This allows the
nurses to develop an accurate, effective, and conclusive patient diagnosis and
assessment. Health and illness beliefs play a crucial role in patients
wellness and wellbeing. the medication process from
the first stages of assessment, including history taking, observation, and
physical assessment, making it easier to obtain subjective and objective data. A
culturally competent health assessment examines a plan of care that recognizes
the tailored needs of every patient and efficient methods of addressing those
needs, making it exceedingly vital in the healthcare administration process.

The health assessment process
involves various stages, including creating fully detailed information about a
patient. The diverse cultural beliefs and variations towards certain illnesses,
diagnoses, and treatment plans may alleviate or elevate an illness.
Nonetheless, lack of cultural competency could easily result in severe medical
errors. For instance, if a nurse fails to question if the patient subscribes to
traditional remedies, he or she may end up prescribing medications with severe
effects. Furthermore, conventional health and illness beliefs within the
community influence daily activities, eating habits, and lifestyle, which
greatly impact health (Jarvis, 2018).

The illness and health beliefs may
affect the interpersonal relations and communication between patients, nurses,
and physicians. Such communication entails laying out a strategic plan, setting
goals, implementation, and evaluation (Davy et al., 2017). Similarly, such
communication and interaction constitute the exchange of cultural beliefs and
ideas to fully comprehend a patient’s cultural background. During the
assessment process, the patient may refer the practitioner to use a treatment they
may not be familiar with. Such prompts the practitioner to seek clarification
to come up with a care plan that specifically tailors the goals and needs of
the patient. In this case, the practitioner needs to be cautious not to ask
questions in a judgmental manner. This makes it essential for providers to
recognize and understand the patients varying viewpoints to bring about
desirable outcomes.

Ideally, individuals approach
problems differently and use more than one strategy to solve the problems based
on personal health and illness beliefs. The causes of diseases may be
categorized into spiritual, naturalistic, biomedical, and scientific. Such
categories may affect the assessment process as the patient may prefer the
spiritual and naturalistic for treatment. For instance, Hispanics may seek
biomedical treatment depending on herbalist or spiritualistic beliefs, which
compel them to opt for treatment plans that suit their personal requirements
(Purnell & Fenkl, 2019). In essence, the world is becoming more culturally
diverse, implying that each ethnic group presents different perceptions and
responses towards the assessment process. The current misunderstandings and
varying viewpoints can easily bring about differences between both parties,
which negatively impacts the assessment process by making it less effective.

Cultural beliefs heavily influence
physical findings during the patient assessment process. This is true since
different cultures have specific and unique acceptable symptoms of illnesses
and preferred treatment plans. Some usually opt for medications from religious
healers, while others prefer biomedical treatment from the providers (Jarvis,
2018). If healthcare providers have a specific perception against traditional
healthcare practices, this will hinder obtaining valid information related to
physical findings from patients. In conclusion, the belief structure and health
and illness beliefs affect the assessment process in terms of interpersonal
communication between the patients and practitioners and methods incorporated
of addressing the problems. Physical findings are shaped and determined by
cultural beliefs shaping preferred treatment diagnosis and treatment plans.

References

Davy,
C., Kite, E., Sivak, L., Brown, A., Ahmat, T., Brahim, G., … & Thomas, T.
(2017). Towards the development of a wellbeing model for aboriginal and Torres
Strait islander peoples living with chronic disease.BMC Health
Services Research,17(1), 1-13.

Jarvis,
C. (2018).Physical Examination and .
Elsevier Health Sciences.

Purnell,
L. D., & Fenkl, E. A. (2019). Transcultural diversity and health care.
InHandbook for culturally competent care(pp. 1-6). Springer,
Cham.