Cultural, Religious, or Spiritual Beliefs and Practice

The hallmark of cultural, religious, and spiritual diversity is the expression of these unique differences in an organization and the utilization of these differences in the promotion of the organization’s agenda. The US bears the brand of being culturally diverse. This is evident in its demographics, that is marked by various cultures such as Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, and Latinos, among others. This paper seeks to analyze how the African American and Asian American cultures influence compliance with prescribed treatment regimens as depicted by scholarly publications.

Medication adherence among African Americans is particularly poor compared to other cultural groups present in the US. According to (Shiyanbola et al., 2018), poor medication adherence among the African American groups is attributable to their perceptions of disease and medicines as well as poor access to medications. These groups exhibit a characteristic distrust of medicine use with the belief that medicines are symbolic of illnesses and bad luck and that continued use of medicines may cause addiction and, consequently, a continuous stream of bad omen. These inherent cultural perceptions affect the drug-taking behavior of these people and have been linked to the higher prevalence of poor compliance among this population as well as the poor clinical outcomes evident in chronic conditions among members of this cultural group. This problem is further compounded by the advanced nursing practice which has to juggle respecting and preserving the patient’s culture and the ethical obligation of promoting and protecting health.

Asian Americans as well have been shown to underutilize the available health resources and show poor compliance with prescribed medications. Cultural sensitivity and trust towards the caregivers have been associated with this observed poor compliance. Cultural components include belief in the yin-yang balance as the underlying factor in disease, predilection towards Chinese medicine rather than Western medicine, and reliance on family and social support among Asians, especially of Chinese descent, which has been linked to poor medication adherence. The difference in belief of the underlying mechanism of disease, for instance, makes people in these cultures not source remedies to their health problems from hospitals and also makes them not believe in Western medicine (Jin & Acharya, 2018). The overall impact is seen in poor patient outcomes, especially when the remedies they resort to fail. The burden is felt by the advanced practice nurses who have to contend with resistance to treatment among these individuals.

Cultural stratification presents different unique beliefs in health and its preservation through medication and treatments. Cultures such as African Americans and Asian Americans present different perceptions of medication use. Some components of these cultures form barriers to their compliance with prescribed medications. The healthcare service providers who are met with particular difficulties when managing these patients feel the burden of this.

References

Jin, L., & Acharya, L. (2018). Cultural Beliefs Underlying Medication Adherence in People of Chinese Descent in the United States. Health Communication, 31(5), 513-521. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2014.974121

Shiyanbola, O., Brown, C., & Ward, E. (2018). “ I did not want to take that medicine” African-Americans’ reasons for diabetes medication nonadherence and perceived solutions for enhancing adherence. Patient Preference And Adherence, Volume 12, 409-421. https://doi.org/10.2147/

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