Taoism and Phi Cultural Health and Illness Believes In Nursing Education

 Health and Illness Cultural Believes of Taoism & Phi In Nursing Education

Health and Illness Believes of  Taoism,Phi Health and Illness Believes,Response to Medical Advancement Regrading Health & Illness and 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.