ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Virtually all culture across the globe have got their systems of health beliefs, which affect how they go about handling their illnesses. How much the information related to their diseases coincides with their set of cultural orientations can play a massive role in the determination of their reception of the same. Assessment in treatment is the process of obtaining information relating to how a particular drug is affecting an individual patient who is under treatment. Some societies believe that illnesses are caused by supernatural phenomena and hence need to be handled divinely. Others believe diseases are biological, and therefore scientific methods need to be used to manage them.
How health and illness beliefs can influence the assessment process
Traditional cultural beliefs usually encompass the general lifestyle of an individual, spanning aspects such as diet and exercise. These things either help to combat or worsen illnesses. In general, however, there is usually a general feeling by most healthcare providers that the sets of cultural believes about health are a severe impediment towards tackling these illnesses. It is essential to know if the patient can complete the assessment. In the case where the patient is not able to answer questions, maybe because of some prevailing conditions around, it is good to wait for a moment for the patient to stabilize for the assessment.
It is also vital to establish a good relationship with the patient by may be engaging them in small talk. This may help in killing any tensions throughout the process. Then lastly, explain to the patient the importance of the assessment process. With a good knowledge of the importance of assessment in mind, the patient can be very receptive to the process (Hannawa, 2014).
In addition to the above, Health and Illness beliefs can influence the assessment process during treatment. A belief is a general acceptance that something is real or exists without any evidence. Most beliefs concerning Health and Illness will affect assessment; hence the aim is not achieved, or biased information can be retrieved from the evaluation, and treatment of the patient is made to be complicated. As initially noted, these beliefs can affect the assessment either positively or negatively.
The threat posed by an illness is also another belief which consists of both the level of personal susceptibility to a particular disease and the extent of the effects of the disease on the person. Research done proved that patients respond positively to treatment to the patient’s belief towards particular illness regardless of the treatment administered (Kelly et al., 2015). With these kinds of beliefs in mind, it is impossible to treat the patient even with the best type of medicine prescribed. These patients are advised to first work on their belief then resume for treatment.
Another belief which commonly found in African countries is that if one wants to live a healthy life, he or she should be in harmony with nature. People with an excellent connection to a natural setting were found to be healthier than those who were not (Tyrvainen et al., 2014). Here, the natural environment is seen as a source of interest, joy, and affection. When one is in good terms with nature, they are believed to be leading a healthy life, but when one collides with nature, they will attract illness, demons, and even evil spirits—people belief in preventing that through wearing of bangles and having a strong faith in nature.
Cultures have herbalists who are individuals who are seen as ‘doctors’ in society. These are believed to have the talent of curing some various types of illness though they are not certified. Patients will seek advice and treatment from these herbalists rather than visiting the physicians. This may be the case due to previous failures in the treatment of a given illness at the Physician’s place. The herbalist may be able to cure the disease of the patient because he/she can win the belief of the patient (Rajab et al. 2016). All these and other health and illness beliefs affect the treatment of patients, making it difficult for doctors and other health workers to provide cure even for known types of illness.
Modern healthcare givers, therefore, need to have a proper mastery of all these sets of traditional beliefs, to come up with a system that combines modern medicine and traditional practices for healthcare. This will play an essential role in the provision of better community health services all around.
References
Hannawa, A. F. (2014). Disclosing Medical Errors to Patients: Effects of non-verbal Involvement
Kelly, M. P., Heath, I., Howick, J., Greenhalgh, T. (2015). The importance of Value in Evidence-based Medicine
Rajab, B., Cherupushpam, S. D., Saleem, T. K., Jithu, V. P. (2016). Role of Cultural Beliefs and use of Faith Healing in Management of Mental Disorders
Tyrvainen, L., Ojala, A., Korpela, K., Langi, T., Tsunetsugu, Y., Kagawa, T. (2014).The Influence of Urban Green Environments on Stress Relief Measures