Appalachian Heritage & The Chinese People 1

Appalachian Heritage & the Chinese People

This is a two page paper written in APA format and uses two sources. The paper discusses the Appalachian heritage; the customs of the Appalachian people who inhabited the mountain range and their descendants. They were popularly known as the white trash. The paper also looks at the Chinese people; a very dynamic population comprising of 56 ethnic groups. The paper briefly looks at high-risk behaviors, nutrition habits, pregnancy/childbearing practices, death rituals, spirituality, health-care practices and preferred health-care providers of these populations of the two communities. The paper concludes by discussing how one can integrate this knowledge into client care.

Appalachian Heritage & The Chinese People 2

Appalachians have poor tendencies like smoking smokeless tobacco, irresponsible drinking behavior among teenagers and most of them lack body exercise. Moreover, they allow abortion, use birth control pills, condoms and tube ligation as a way of family planning. Poor nutritional habits like excess use of fats and refined sugars are common in this community. As part of their death rituals, the bereaved family stays outside throughout the night when one passes on. Funeral services take a period of three hours and the duration is according to the age of the diseased, the closest relative viewing the body last. They bury the deceased in their best attire together with their possessions and meals are served after burials. Appalachians regard certain individuals as basic treatment units. Traditional practitioners are majorly women though men perform at times; the older grannies are most preferred. Finally, they use King James Version in churches and believe in strength and fundamentalism. High risk behaviors among the Chinese are common among the migrants who travel abroad especially to work in construction companies, they engage in poor sexual behaviors like having multiple partners and inconsistent use of prevention techniques. Their nutritional habits include belief that unbalanced diet should not be taken. In relation to child bearing practices, there are foods that should not be fed to a pregnant woman. Emotional disturbance during pregnancy leads to diseases or disability in the newborn. Chinese also believe that lack of a balanced diet cause sickness and consumption of cold liquids that have lots of oils cause diarrhea (Helman, 1990). The women are responsible for the provision of Health care especially during childbirth. Male children are most preferred since they ensure continuity in the society. Basically, their health care system is based on Ying-Yang theory; which incorporates traditional

Appalachian Heritage & The Chinese People 3

and western medicine (Bond, 2003). Finally, they practice Buddhism, Islamism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity. According to Buddhists when one dies he is burnt. Health risks associated with nutritional habits and child bearing habits: Appalachians are not keen on immunizing children; consequently, most of their kids are at high risk of contracting diseases like sudden infant death syndrome, malformations and infections. The children are also poorly handled hence frequently injured; this leads to burns, trauma and poisoning. Furthermore, by feeding them on grease, sugar etc in their first month to promote hardiness, mothers expose their kids to other risks (Quah, 1999). Many Appalachians practice poor feeding habits like eating specific animal organsthat have high cholesterol. This jeopardizes their health status. The most eaten foods include corns, pumpkin cake, pickled beans and beets which all have exceptionally high amounts of sodium.
The Chinese, have three meals a day, supper being the largest. In the southern part, people take Yang foods such as red meat, eggs, hot fluids, noodles, oily and fried foods. These kinds of foodstuffs are not recommended when it comes to health. In some instances, mental illness is associated to the supernatural beings or punishment from gods which should not be the case.

The key areas of greatest learning surround eating habits in both communities; they have poor nutritional habits like eating lots of fats and sugars. They also both tend not to believe much in hospital care. Thus, in terms of client care, it is vital to create more awareness to clients on the importance of proper nutritional habits, and the advantages of visiting health care institutions.

Appalachian Heritage & The Chinese People 4

References Bond, M. H. (2003). The psychology of the Chinese people. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Helman, C. G. (1990). Culture, Health and illness. Wright, London. Quah, S. R. (1999). The health Belief Model and Preventative Health behavior in Singapore, Social Science and Medicine, 21,351-363.