Heritage Assessment
Michelle Lowery
Grand Canyon University: Family-Centered Health Promotion
May 17, 2015

Heritage Assessment
Today, the United States is home to people from all around the world. With such a diverse population, it is vital for health care provides knowledgeable and aware of the cultural differences in order to provide excellent service to all patients. The Heritage Cultural Assessment is just the tool needed when assessing the cultural diversities. This assessment allows for medical professionals to learn about their patients’ ethnicity, religious preference, health traditions, as well as their cultural heritage. In my paper, I will discuss how important and useful the heritage assessment tool can be when studying the diverse culture of three families, the Latin American, Jewish American, and Native American. I will compare and contrast the different health traditions, religious beliefs and evaluate how families adhere to these traditions and practices. The Heritage Assessment Tool offers information that assists in identifying the best care to administer to a diverse culture of people. This questionnaire involves questions about the patient’s cultural background, family ties, religious beliefs and traditions. With the proper information, the health professionals are able to provide a balance between the medical practices as well as the traditions the patients believes in (Saver, 2007). Taking these steps insures that the provider is informed and able to provide the best care for the patient. The patient is then confident that their needs and preferences are met. Cultural traditions have a major impact on the way a patient feels, thinks, and receives medical attention. When taking into consideration the diversity of the patient, the provider is able to form a positive patient/provider relationship which allows respect and trust between the provider and patient which helps ensure the best care.
The first family I interviewed was of Jewish descendant. The Jewish culture is deeply rooted in its beliefs, customs and faith. Their faith is based solely on the writings of the Old Testament (Torah). In the writings of the old testaments certain foods are prohibited. The Jewish population is prohibited from eating any type of pork. They believe by not eating pork they are fulfilling a spiritual commandment as well as aiding in health. Jewish culture is richly rooted in the celebration of the obstacles that God delivered their ancestors from. Each year they celebrate Passover which, is a remembrance of the Jewish people being delivered from slavery out of Egypt. During this week long celebration they only eat unleavened bread. They also celebrate Hanukkah which is an eight day festival to commemorate another victory by God. The Jewish people are very dedicated in holding to their traditions and customs such as fasting and prayer. They believe in the power of prayer for healing. Some diseases common is Jewish people are genetic disorders, there are over 38 different diseases that they are prone to have.
This specific Jewish family are descendants from Russia, both the maternal and paternal grandparents are from that country. The mother and father where both born in New York. Since the parents were born in the United States they didn’t follow many traditional activities. The family doesn’t practice many of these religious traditions. This particular family has no religious affiliation. The oldest son of the family did participate in a Bar Mitzvah ceremony which is a common Jewish tradition. The immediate family contained two brothers and two sisters. The grandparents lived close by and visited on a weekly basis. The grandparents and parents are now deceased as well as the extended family. The family was never very affectionate towards each other and may go long periods of time without contact. This is not typical of Jewish families due to they are family oriented. The family