Running Head: Heritage Assessment

Heritage Assessment
Grand Canyon University
NRS-429V
January 22, 2011 Heritage Assessment Heritage is as individual as a fingerprint when it comes to some cultures. Every individual has their own heritage, and this is very different between different cultures. Heritage consists of determination of one’s ethnic, religious, and cultural background (Spector, 2009). When we look at someone’s heritage, we look at traditional health methods used to maintain health, protect health, and restore health; these concepts deal with a person’s physical, mental, and spiritual beliefs. This paper will compare these health methods among the Chinese, Hispanic, and Navajo heritages and look at the …show more content…
They also believe in using home remedies like garlic, for example, is used to help with hypertension, as a cough suppressant, and often as an antibiotic (R. Marquez-Castro, personal communication, January 15, 2011). The Hispanic community will use home remedies often, but also use traditional healers when necessary. When someone is ill in the Navajo community they will turn to a Navajo medicine man, or Hataali, to treat the patient (S. Notah, personal communication, January 16, 2011). This medicine man will use herbs, and blessing ceremonies to cure the patient or the disease. They believe that these spiritual blessings will rid the person of the illness, and if it does not, then they will no longer suffer from this illness. On the other hand, the Chinese culture deals with the illness and tries to find a way to learn to live with the disease that is affecting them. They will use meditation to help center the body, and bring back equilibrium which will help slowly cure the disease (B. Nguyen, personal communication, January 15, 2011). The author completed a heritage assessment tool, and found that she is Christian and was born and raised in America along with her family and parents. Her family origins back to Irish decent. The Irish beliefs are very different in Ireland, than the Irish-American beliefs in America. In Ireland they still have folk and alternative medicines that people turn to instead of the