The Heritage Assessment Tool
Heritage Assessment Tool
Samantha Rich
Grand Canyon University
May 21, 2013
The Heritage Assessment Tool (HAT) is a way to asses an individual’s ethnic, religious, and cultural heritage as well as health traditions. Using this tool allows healthcare providers to deliver high quality patient care as well as develop a therapeutic relationship and healing approach. Being able to deliver high quality care to patients and families is of utmost importance for nurses. In order to be most efficient in the delivery the nurse has to be culturally competent. Being culturally competent encompasses more than just asking where a patient was born. In America, this is due to the fact that a good portion of the population consists of people who have immigrated from all over the world (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle, 2014). This paper discusses the usefulness of using the HAT when evaluating three culturally diverse families. The Italian Americans, Spanish Americans, and Filipino Americans will be compared to identify the differences in health protection, health maintenance, health restoration, common health traditions and practices. The HAT assessment consists of twenty-nine questions that focus specifically on an individual’s cultural background, religious practices, beliefs, and family relations. By using the Heritage Assessment Tool the nurse learns about the patient’s culture which assists in better caring for a culturally wide range of patients (Saver, 2007). Not only does this assessment assist with helping the nurse understand the patient’s background but also assists in painting a better picture of that patient’s personal view on health. A patient’s culture and background directly affects how he or she receives healthcare services such as health promotion education and preventative measures. Each patient is culturally unique and if that is taken into consideration the nurse can form a positive patient-nurse relationship with the patient which
Samantha Rich
Grand Canyon University
May 21, 2013
The Heritage Assessment Tool (HAT) is a way to asses an individual’s ethnic, religious, and cultural heritage as well as health traditions. Using this tool allows healthcare providers to deliver high quality patient care as well as develop a therapeutic relationship and healing approach. Being able to deliver high quality care to patients and families is of utmost importance for nurses. In order to be most efficient in the delivery the nurse has to be culturally competent. Being culturally competent encompasses more than just asking where a patient was born. In America, this is due to the fact that a good portion of the population consists of people who have immigrated from all over the world (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle, 2014). This paper discusses the usefulness of using the HAT when evaluating three culturally diverse families. The Italian Americans, Spanish Americans, and Filipino Americans will be compared to identify the differences in health protection, health maintenance, health restoration, common health traditions and practices. The HAT assessment consists of twenty-nine questions that focus specifically on an individual’s cultural background, religious practices, beliefs, and family relations. By using the Heritage Assessment Tool the nurse learns about the patient’s culture which assists in better caring for a culturally wide range of patients (Saver, 2007). Not only does this assessment assist with helping the nurse understand the patient’s background but also assists in painting a better picture of that patient’s personal view on health. A patient’s culture and background directly affects how he or she receives healthcare services such as health promotion education and preventative measures. Each patient is culturally unique and if that is taken into consideration the nurse can form a positive patient-nurse relationship with the patient which
References: Edelman, C.L., Kudzma, E.C., & Mandle, C.L. (2014). Health promotion throughout the life span (8th ed.). [VitalSource Bookshelf version] Retrieved from http://pageburstls.elsevier.com/#/books/978-0-323-09141-1/content/element/2261?locs[]=111-7&locs[]=119-10&locs[]=773-10&q=diverse+population Pozzetta, G., Salamone, F., & "Italian Americans." Dictionary of American History. 2003. (2000). Italian Americans. Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Italian_Americans.aspx Saver, C. (2007) Cultural competency benefits patients, therapists. Nursing 2014, 37, 6-9. Retrieved from doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000277238.73864.76