Heritage Assessment
Grand Canyon University
NRS-429V
January 22, 2011 Heritage Assessment Heritage is as individual as a fingerprint when it comes to some cultures. Every individual has their own heritage, and this is very different between different cultures. Heritage consists of determination of one’s ethnic, religious, and cultural background (Spector, 2009). When we look at someone’s heritage, we look at traditional health methods used to maintain health, protect health, and restore health; these concepts deal with a person’s physical, mental, and spiritual beliefs. This paper will compare these health methods among the Chinese, Hispanic, and Navajo heritages and look at the differences between the health traditions, as well as look at the author’s heritage. Health maintenance deals with what different cultures do in their everyday lives that help prevent illnesses. In the Chinese culture, the people believe that eggs are a necessity in their everyday diet, along with rice (B. Nguyen, personal communication, January 15, 2011). They also believe that food should be various flavors; such as, sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy. The people of the Navajo culture use activities like weaving and making rugs to help calm their souls (S. Notah, personal communication, January 16, 2011). Hobbies help contribute to their mental well-being (Spector, 2009). Both the Navajo and Hispanic cultures are very strong believers in their religion, and this is very important to them and their health. In the Hispanic culture, familism, this is when families live very close together and have contact on a regular basis this helps them to live with less stress and worry which improves health. (B. Marquez-Castro, personal communication, January 15, 2011). Health protection explains how people maintain their health on a daily basis (Spector, 2009). There are many different rituals and beliefs among cultures that are used so