About Health communication

The Hmong population has a range of opinions about American healthcare professionals. They believe the doctors are inexperienced and act independently of patient concerns. For instance, some Hmong community members think that young doctors are only interested in the female bodies. Despite the patient being in pain, the Hmong community does not comprehend that the doctor is required to check the body before administering medicine. Despite the fact that a woman needs medical care, a young male doctor is not permitted to see a woman’s body in their culture. The elderly from Hmong community have resorted to not going to the doctors since they feel the doctor just wants to study them and not solve their health problems. The aged community members start believing that the American doctors treat them as refugees just because they fail to follow the appointment schedules. Since some people believe that they are used for study purposes, the elderly skip appointments and do not seek regular health services like their American counterparts. They also believe that the hospitals offer healthcare services according to the social status of the individuals. The Hmong community site some cases where rich people are treated very well and do not have to wait in the queue.

The people from Hmong community also believe that doctors do not understand their health situation despite explanations; they believe that the doctors think they know nothing about healthcare and that’s the reason why they are treated as refugees. They give an example of a lady with blisters whom the doctor concluded that she needed surgery despite the lady stressing that she needs medication for pain only. To his brother with the swollen and itchy body, the doctors conclude that he has cancer and needs to be operated. However, he fears changing mind after signing operation forms since they believe that the doctors are powerful enough to throw them into a prison.

Question 2

At all the levels f health interaction, health communication uses English as the language of communicating to each other. English is used as the mode of communication since they belong to the most educated Americanized segment of the Hmong community in Merced. Hmong that are educated are likely to understand the value Western medical care. The versions of the community members fail to match those of their doctors due to various reasons. Hmong community members interact with the healthcare providers at MCMC which is considered a teaching hospital.

The hospital works to patients’ advantage since every patient and faculty members are consistently attracted to update their knowledge and techniques. The MCMC hospital receives reports on the problems affecting the Hmong community. The hospital takes the sole responsibility of investigating the origin of health problems that largely affect the Hmong community. For example, there is a period when MCMC launched investigations to investigate the diarrhea cases of Hmong community members reported in the emergency room (Anne, 1997). The investigations perhaps helped the Hmong members to better understand their health.

During health communication, the absence of an interpreter made the patient stumble and causes misunderstanding. The hazards of misunderstanding were manifested to increase among patients who spoke little English. Lack of translation is enough to confuse the doctor to believe in translation error during the process. Even with perfect translation, it was not sure if each party understood the other.

Question 3

The social stigma of Hmong community may negatively influence their health-seeking behavior. It is evident that some health conditions affecting Hmong women cause them trauma and stress that subject them to complex decisions. Hmong women have failed to seek hospital services due to the stigma associated with birth complications. The possible consequences are that these women give more birth compared to any other population. The problem is confirmed by Robert Small, an obstetrician with unapologetic remarks saying Hmong women breed like flies. She refers to Hmong women patients as stubborn and doesn’t do what they are told at the hospital. As a result, ignorance is seen in the Hmong women health-seeking behavior.

The people of Hmong community had a higher reproductive capacity that was equated to 9.5 children per woman. When compared to the American counterparts, the rate was higher since the American gave birth to an average of 1.9 children. The Hmong community growth in population is caused by two factors; early marriage at an average of 14 years and their suspicion on contraception (Anne, 1997).

The stigma of failing to have kids causes women negative towards seeking health services at the hospital. Hmong women needed to give birth in large numbers to get labor that could till the large pieces of land. Due to health complications associated with pregnancy and required medical attention, the women were forced to give birth at their homes. The book gives an example of a Hmong woman with ectopic pregnancy; the patient required urgent removal of the fallopian tube. The doctor explained the health condition to the family members who never allowed the medical treatment. The woman later consented to the operation after being convinced. She thought that it was a move to prevent her from bearing children anymore (Anne, 1997).

Question 4

The Hmong community need adequate health education to make them change their behavior towards hospital seeking. The women with pregnancy complications in Hmong community fail to get the medical services due to ignorance; they only step in the delivery floor is when giving birth. Health education behavior talks should seek to inform these women on the importance of regularly checking the health of pregnant women. Frequent medical check-up during pregnancy should be started to protect heath of a baby and the mother.

Health talk on behavior change towards seeking health care should also cover to change their perceptions about the doctor. Hmong community members believe that the doctors are just to exploit them and use their bodies for medical reasons unlike their American counterparts. The talk given to Hmong community members should seek their understanding that examinations by doctors are important for their health and this should be highly embraced. To help Hmong community, they should be made to understand that they discriminated against accessing health services, but rather have to follow decisions made by doctors.

Additionally, Hmong community needs to understand that doctors are not as powerful as perceived by them. Some members of the community fear changing their decision due to their fear of the doctor whom they believe do not even understand them. The health talk delivered to the Hmong community need to make them understand that all people need to access healthcare on an equal basis without consideration of social classes.

Reference

Anne Fadiman (1997). The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.