Russian immigrants

You have to write an answer based on this writing, a minimum of 200 words. You need to add references and quotes, do not use the same references that appear in the writing.

The United States of America has experienced an increased number of immigrants over the years. For instance, Russian immigrants are one of the most growing ethnic groups in the US (Purnell, 2012). Furthermore, more than 9 million people of Polish heritage live in the United States. Nevertheless, people of Thai heritage living in the US are much fewer compared with the Russian and Polish people. These groups of immigrants tend to maintain their cultural heritage when they settle in the US, as highlighted in this essay.

To start with, touch and direct eye contact among family and friends is part of culture of the people of Russian and Polish heritages (Purnell, 2012). Nonetheless, some Russian and Polish people avoid direct eye contact when communicating with healthcare providers, until trust is established. Besides, people of Thai heritage also value direct eye contact when communicating with family and friends as a sign of politeness and respect. Also, respect for the elderly is highly regarded among the Russian, polish and Thai people. Furthermore, younger members of the family are obligated of taking care of their old people instead of taking them to nursing homes. For example, people of Russian heritage believe that nursing homes do not offer quality services. On the other hand, people of Polish heritage view it as horrible and disgrace to take their elderly people in nursing homes. Also, the Thai people consider it as a moral obligation for the young to take care of people who have grown too old.

Moreover, the people of Russian, Polish and Thai heritages exhibit similarities in risky behaviors, such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking. These behaviors impact negatively on their health and contribute to domestic violence, particularly among the Russian people (Purnell, 2012). Cases of lifestyle related health conditions such as; cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and stroke are common among the people of these heritages. Regarding nutrition, unhealthy practices can be noted among the Russian people and Polish people, such as eating high carbohydrates, high saturated fats, and high salty foods. Nevertheless, the Thai people normally take higher legumes and vegetables, low fat and meat foods, but their foods are very spicy. Therefore, the Thai people are more nutritional conscious than Russian and Polish people.

More importantly, the people of Russian, Polish and Thai heritages have varied beliefs regarding death. For instance, the Russians prefer their loved ones to die in comfort and do not value resuscitation (Purnell, 2012). Also, the people of Russian heritage would rather have their loved ones die at home instead of health facilities. Besides, cremation of bodies is not common among the Russian people. On their part, the Polish people readily accept death as part of life process, and family and friends prefer staying by bedside of a dying kin. The Polish people also prefer their loved ones to die at home care instead of hospitals. On the other hand, people of Thai heritage follow the Buddhist funeral rites of cremation for their dead people.

In addition, people of Russian, Polish and Thai heritage have some common customs practices when dealing with health issues and diseases. For instance, these groups of immigrants are stoic and normally seek healthcare when the symptoms worsen (Purnell, 2012). Also, they believe in self-treatment until their health conditions deteriorate. Furthermore, mental illnesses are approached with stigmatization, and thus people are not free to discuss mental conditions. Additionally, people of Russian heritage and Thai heritage are reluctant to organ donation compared with the Polish people.

The health care belief among the people of Russian, Polish and Thai heritage may influence delivery of evidence-based health care. For instance, reluctance to seek medical care until symptoms worsen can be life threatening (McCann & Clark, 2011). Therefore, people should seek treatment early enough. Also, stigmatization of people suffering from mental illness may affect delivery of quality healthcare for the patients (Kohn & Levav, 2014). Thus, families may fear to seek for treatment, and thus worsen treatable mental conditions.

References

Kohn, R.S. &  Levav, C.P. (2014). Attitudes towards mental illness in the common wealth of Dominica. Pan African journal of Public Health 7 (3) 148-154

McCann, T.V., & Clarke,E. (2011). Responding to stigma: fist-time caregivers of young people with first episode of psychosis. Psychiatric Survey Journal 62:548-50.

Purnell, L. D. (2012). Transcultural Health Care: A Culturally Competent Approach (4th ed.). Philadelphia, United States: F.A. Davis Company