Influence of Culture on Health

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* Prompt 2: In this class, we have focused on the relationship between culture and health. This relationship comes into focus, especially when considering the experiences of immigrants in the United States and how they access health care services. Drawing on course materials and personal experience (if relevant), discuss how being an immigrant can shape your health and your experience accessing health care services. Your answer must reference at least two sources (readings or films) and use at least one concrete example.
The influence of culture on health remains undeniable. Culture affects one's perception about health, causes of diseases, approaches to health promotion, beliefs about causes of diseases, treatment options, pain and illness expression, and experience. Being an immigrant, especially in the US, presents one with several challenges regarding access to health care services. Some of the most common challenges that face immigrants seeking health care services in the US are overall lack of information, language barrier, a barrier to information, and cultural differences (Portes and Donald 9). As an immigrant, there is an overall lack of information about healthcare location and range of services, among others. Most services offered by most American health facilities are not often advertised and only spread through word of mouth. Most immigrants, especially those considered socioeconomically disadvantaged, are often ignorant about these leaving them disadvantaged and vulnerable to public health threats.
Secondly, the lack of English fluency and cultural differences leaves most immigrants disadvantaged when seeking health care services. Cultural, linguistic barriers have resulted in major hurdles in serving the immigrant population. For example, a teenage girl admitted to an American hospital could not explain her symptoms in English, leading to the wrong drug prescription. The prescriptions being wrong worsened the girl's situation where she died of appendicitis (Joseph 170). On top of the language barrier, there is always the challenge of giving immigrants the desirable instructions and having them follow diligently. Cultural/linguistic barriers will only be managed when all medical practitioners become fluent in the immigrant's language and attain the desired cultural mastery.
Thirdly, most immigrants in America face several federal barriers that limit them from accessing federally funded healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The personal responsibility and work opportunity Act of 1996 excludes immigrants with less than five years in America from accessing federally funded programs such as Medicaid. As such, the state immigration policies have in the past few years had a chilling effect on the health-seeking behaviors of immigrants. These policies have triggered fear, especially among illegal immigrants who would rather suffer silently than get detected, arrested, and deported. Adoption of the Arizona Bill 1070, for example, empowered law enforcement authorities to verify the immigration status of those perceived to lack authorization, which resulted in decreased likelihood of using preventive and public assistance by pregnant girls and women of Mexica...