Every individual has a cultural heritage. Each culture views the world differently. Culture is an inherited characteristic and includes knowledge, beliefs, customs, skills, likes and dislikes. The fundamental role of cultural heritage is uniting, respecting the diversities and brings people together to face the future by informing, perceiving and give importance to the understanding of the past (need a reference) Heritage assessment tool was introduced for collecting information about different cultures, nationalities and build cultural competencies among health care professionals. It is used to investigate a given population or ethnic group. The tool helps to perform a heritage assessment depending on how deeply the person identify and answers the questions and is helpful in setting the stage for understanding the health traditions of the person. The greater the number of the positive responses shows the person’s greater identification with traditional heritage.
Traditional cultural knowledge makes people aware about the health maintenance, protection and restoration and is the three aspects of health promotion. It is derived from health beliefs and practices. Physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the individual is given importance and is viewed differently in each culture. Health is considered as a true balance with in the body, spirit and mind and family, community and the natural forces of the world. People with different ethno cultural heritages tend to define illness and health in a holistic approach and have a different health beliefs and practices for each of them.
Health maintenance, protection and restoration in a traditional way require the understanding and knowledge of the person’s ethno cultural heritage and health related resources. These methods can be used along with or instead of modern health care techniques and are the integral part of a person’s given heritage.
Health maintenance is the traditional or folk