Interview of an Older Adult, Essay Example

An interview with Mr. A.J, 72 years old has allowed me to realize the importance of culture and its impact on an individual’s health. Mr. A.J is a Mexican professional who migrated to the United States together with his family to seek employment in the United States. As Latinos, Mr. A.J. values the principles of respect and place extreme importance on the value of family. In fact, family is foremost within the Latino culture with each member staying in close proximity with other family member, even deciding to stay in the same house. As evident in Mr. A.J’s case, he is living with one of his daughters. , Mr. A.J. is quite knowledgeable on maintaining his health and well-being. He recognizes the inevitable fact of aging and does not really dwell on it. Mr. AJ is still quite mobile, thus allowing him a certain degree of independence despite his age. Since Mr. A.J’s daughter works full time and leads a busy life, she has asked a carer to visit him at certain times during the day to help with personal care and daily activities of living. The carer even takes him on recreational activities he may like on a pre-arranged time and most importantly, ensures that health and wellness is maintained. The carer also assists him to take medications on time and ensures that appropriate referrals are made if needed.

The United States is becoming increasingly diverse, with a multitude of immigrants entering the country yearly. In relation to the increasing diversity of the population, there is a crucial need to be able to respond to the differences in culture, the varied outlook, the primary values and most importantly, the health behavior and well-being of these groups. The social and cultural differences should be managed adeptly in order to decrease the prevalence of the consequences that may occur especially towards those that belong to the minority. In the field of health and medicine, it is important to render the highest quality of care possible and acquiring cultural competency allows care to be delivered particularly to disparate groups.