Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness » (7th Edition)

Dr. Rachel E. Spector has been a student of culturally diverse HEALTH and ILLNESS beliefs and practices for 35 years and has researched and taught courses on culture and HEALTH care for the same time span. Dr. Spector has had the opportunity to work in many different communities, including the American Indian and Hispanic communities in Boston, Massachusetts. Her studies have taken her to many places: most of the United States, Canada, and Mexico; several European countries, including Denmark, England, Finland, Iceland, Italy, France, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland; Israel and Pakistan; and Australia and New Zealand. She was fortunate enough to collect traditional amulets and remedies from many of these diverse communities and to meet practitioners of traditional HEALTH care in several places. She was instrumental in the creation and presentation of the exhibit “Immigrant HEALTH Traditions” at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, May 1994 through January 1995. She and has exhibited HEALTH-related objects in several other settings. Recently, she served as a Colaboradora Honorifica (Honorary Collaborator) in the University of Alicante in Alicante, Spain, and Tamulipus, Mexico. In 2006, she was a Lady Davis Fellow in the Henrietta Zold-Hadassah Hebrew University School of Nursing in Jerusalem, Israel. This text was translated into Spanish by Maria Munoz and published in Madrid by Prentice Hall as Las Culturas de la SALUD in 2003. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a Scholar in Transcultural Nursing Society. The Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses, the state organization of the American Nurses’ Association, honored her as a “Living Legend” in 2007. In 2008 she was recognized by the American Nurses’ Association for her work in Human Rights.

The seventh edition of this well-respected book continues to promote an awareness of the dimensions and complexities involved in caring for people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Completely revised and updated, it examines the differences existing within North America by probing the health care system and consumers, and examples of traditional health beliefs and practices among selected populations. An emphasis on the influences of recent social, political, and demographic changes helps to explore the issues and perceptions of health and illness today. An essential for any health-care professional, this book sets the standard for cultural perspectives.

Joan C. Murphy

This fifth edition, well-known, cultural work continues to deepen and expand the reader's theory and sense of inquiry. The purpose, as in past editions, is to increase the reader's awareness of the "dimensions and complexities involved as we meet the health and illness needs of patients." Cultural competence is now mandated by the Joint Commission of Hospital Accreditation and the Health Care Financing Administration. The author uses the notion of a quilt as a theme, thereby imaging continuity from chapter to chapter. This book is intended for virtually anyone providing healthcare, but especially nurses and nursing students as we are constantly encountering cultural diversity. The author is successful in this effort. The twelve chapters are divided into three units. In the first the focus is on provider self-awareness, in the second cultural awareness, and in the third selected traditional views of health and illness. One example is Chapter 11, "Health and Illness in Hispanic America." There are eight very valuable appendixes including Suggested Course Outline and Suggested Course Activities. There is an extensive (20 page) bibliography and an impressive directory of alternative healthcare associations. As discussed by the author, the U.S. will continue to receive a significant portion of its population via immigration. Given that prediction, it is imperative that educators and those already in practice focus on initial and ongoing cultural competency. This evolving theory base has become obligatory for humane, ethical, and legal practice. Ongoing cultural shifts and new theory necessitate the new edition.

A Word About Health

Unit I Cultural Foundations 1

Ch. 1 Cultural Heritage and History 3

Ch. 2 Diversity 31

Ch. 3 Health and Illness 48

Unit II Health Domains 71

Ch. 4 Health Traditions 74

Ch. 5 Healing Traditions 107

Ch. 6 Familial Health Traditions 147

Ch. 7 Health Care Delivery and Issues 167

Unit III Health and Illness Panoramas 201

Ch. 8 Health and Illness in the American Indian and Alaska Native Population 204

Ch. 9 Health and Illness in the Asian Populations 231

Ch. 10 Health and Illness in the Black Population 258

Ch. 11 Health and Illness in the Hispanic Populations 283

Ch. 12 Health and Illness in the White Populations 315

App. A Selected Key Terms Related to Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness 346

App. B Calendar: Religious Holidays That Change Dates 355

App. C Suggested Course Outline 357

App. D Suggested Course Activity - Urban Hiking 363

App. E Heritage Assessment Tool 365

App. F Quick Guide for CulturalCare 368

App. G Data Resources 370

Bibliography 375

Index 395