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BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING

COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING 2
COURSE COURSE WEEK
MODULE UNIT
3 13.1 15

DELIVERING HEALTH CARE TO THE FILIPINO FAMILY AND TO THE

COMMUNITY - Culture

Read course and unit objectives

Read study guide prior to class attendance
Read required learning resources; refer to unit terminologies
for jargons
Proactively participate in classroom discussions
Participate in weekly discussion board (Canvas)
Answer and submit course unit tasks

At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

Cognitive:
1. Discuss important concepts of Culture.
2. Describe different Filipino culture that affects health
3. Determine how to utilized your personal as well as professional attributes in a culturally-based
health practices.
Affective:
1. Listen attentively during class discussions
2. Demonstrate tact and respect when challenging other people’s opinions and ideas
3. Accept comments and reactions of classmates on one’s opinions openly and graciously.
4. Develop heightened interest in studying Community Health Nursing.
 Psychomotor:
1. Participate actively during class discussions and activities
2. Express opinion and thoughts during class

CULTURAL HERITAGE includes: cultures, customs, beliefs, rites, rituals, ceremonies, indigenous
knowledge, social customs and traditions, arts, crafts, music, political and ideological beliefs that
influence culture and behavior, history, practices concerning the natural environment, religious and
scientific traditions, language, sports, food and drink, calendars, traditional clothing, cybercultures in the
digital world, and emerging new cultures which will become the heritage of the future.(Barker, 2013)

Culture is a set of beliefs, values, and assumptions about life that are widely held among a group of
people and is transmitted intergenerationally (Leininger, 2002).

2014 Lancet Commission on Culture and Health argued that “the systematic neglect of culture in
health and health care is the single biggest barrier to the advancement of the highest standard of health
worldwide” (WHO, 2017).

Culture determines how health care information is processed, received, and distributed; how rights
and protections are exercised; what is considered to be a health problem; how symptoms and concerns
of the problem are expressed; who provides treatment for the problem; and what type of treatment should
be given (Giger, 2012; Purnell and Paulanka, 2012; Spector, 2012).

Understanding the beliefs and practices these clients bring to the clinical setting, their responses to
health and illness, and the type of health care they expect to receive are important data that nurses
should draw on when developing a plan of care for clients. (Stanhope, 2014)

Ex. Colorful fiestas happening all-year round. Celebrating fiesta is an influence of the Spanish
colonizers and was mainly done to honor the patron saints.

Ex. Kamayan. Filipinos love to eat and when the food is especially sumptuous, they eat kamayan-
style. From the Filipino word kamay or hand, kamayan is the traditional way of dining using one’s bare
hands.

Filipino Customs and Tradition

Ex. Child marriage like in the indigenous people of the Tagakaolo community in Mindanao. The legal
age to get married in the Philippines is 18 but the practice is widely spread across particularly in rural and
isolated areas where poverty, access to education and social norms plays a crucial role. (SaveThe
Child.org)
 Ex. In Ifugao, the dead is carried to the “lubuk” (grave) for the internment. Grave is a tunnel built in a
hill side. It could be individual grave or clan for several generations. It has small opening but has a large
space inside. Rocks and soil are put in place after a person is buried and opened again if another is to
be buried or the bones of a deceased is exhumed for the purpose of “bogwa” (Tuguinay,2009).

The Ifugao Rituals in Honoring the dead.

(Image from Intangible Cultural Heritage of Asia
and the Pacific Courier Online)

Ex. Use of local alcoholic beverages such as tuba or a basic fermented drink from nipa palm and
coconut. Lambanog, a distilled tuba. Laksoy, tempered by the addition of fruits. Basi of Ilocano.

Filipino Values, Traits and Beliefs

Ex. Practiced as a sign of respect to elders, pagmamano is one of the oldest and most notable Filipino
tradition there is. Mano means hand in Spanish, fittingly so as pagmamano is done by gently tapping the
hand of the elder to a younger person’s forehead. The elder in return says “God bless you” hence why
the act is also often referred to as “bless”.

Ex. Values for families. Many Filipinos are reluctant to embrace birth control, since having a number
of children is socially

Ex. Having fondness for family reunions during secular and religious holidays such as Christmas,
New Year’s Eve, All Saints' Day, Holy Week, Fiestas, homecomings, birthdays, weddings, graduations,
baptisms, funerals etc. is evidence that Filipino people valued not only our cultural tradition but the spirit
of our family.

Ex.Filipino Traits
Ilocanos have a reputation for being very hard working and extremely frugal, which undoubtedly
results from their difficult life on their ancestral farms, that have notoriously poor soil conditions

Visayan is the archetypal opposite. The abundant marine resources and rich volcanic soils of the
central islands has helped to produce a culture that values music, fun, and gregarious personal relations
Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity is a complex and multifaceted concept that denotes the differences amongst
individuals, particularly those linked to values, attitudes, beliefs, norms, behaviors, customs, and ways of
living. (Nies, M, 2015). An example of it is cited below:

Catholics fast or abstain from meat on Ash

Wednesday and each Friday of Lent

Muslims refrain from eating during the

daytime hours for the month of Ramadan
but are permitted to eat after sunset

Mormons refrain from ingesting all solid

foods and liquids on the first Sunday of each
month

Cultural Competence
Cultural competence is understanding as well as
respecting the groups’ values and beliefs so as to
function effectively in caring for members of that
cultural group
Cultural competence comprises more than having
sensitivity or awareness of cultures. It demands an
active process of learning and developing skills to
engage effectively in cross-cultural situations and re-
evaluating these skills over time. (Nies, M, 2015)
 Barriers to Developing Cultural Competence (Stanhope, 2014)
1.Stereotyping is ascribing certain beliefs and behaviors about a given racial and ethnic group to
an individual without assessing for individual differences.
2. Prejudice is the emotional manifestation of deeply held beliefs about a group that is not based on
reason or experience but rather on negative or favorable preconceived feelings. Often precursors for
discriminatory acts based on prejudging, limited knowledge about, misinformation about, fear of, or
limited contact with individuals from that group. Those who are prejudiced wish to deny the individuals,
on the basis of race, skin color, ethnicity, or social standing, the opportunity to benefit fully from society’s
offerings of accessible health care, education, good jobs, and community activities.
3. Racism is a form of prejudice that occurs through the exercise of power by individuals and
institutions against people who are judged to be inferior on the basis of intelligence, morals, beauty,
inheritance, and self-worth. Individuals are denied certain opportunities (e.g., jobs, housing, education,
and health care) typically enjoyed by the larger group because of some characteristic over which they
have no control.
4. Ethnocentrism, or cultural prejudice, is the belief that one’s own cultural group determines the
standards by which another group’s behavior is judged.
5. Cultural Imposition is the belief in one’s own superiority, or ethnocentrism, and is the act of
imposing one’s cultural beliefs, values, and practices on individuals from another culture.
6. Cultural Conflict is a perceived threat that may arise from a
misunderstanding of expectations when nurses are unable to respond appropriately to another
individual’s cultural practice because of unfamiliarity with the practice (Andrews and Boyle, 2012).
7. Culture Shock is the feeling of helplessness, discomfort, and disorientation experienced by an
individual attempting to understand or effectively adapt to a cultural group whose beliefs and values are
radically different from the individual’s culture.

Beliefs- is a perception about the reality of things and are shared ideas about how the world and
his environment operate. It is influenced by emotions, attitudes, values, ideology, and religion

Culture - represents shared norms, values, traditions, and customs of a group that typically define
and guide appropriate and inappropriate attitudes and behaviors.

Norms are the rules by which human behavior is governed and result from the cultural values held
by the group.

Subculture i- used for fairly large aggregates of people who share characteristics that are not
common to all members of the culture and that enable them to be a distinguishable subgroup
.
Tradition - a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic
meaning or special significance with origins in the past

Value refers to a desirable or undesirable state of affairs. Values are a universal feature of all
cultures, although the types and expressions of values differ widely. (Leininger, 1995)

The community health nurse should attempt to comprehend the nature and meaning of culturally
based health practices of clients, groups, and communities. After the practices are understood, the
nurse can make a determination regarding their appropriateness. The nurse should decide whether
a cultural practice is useful, neutral, or harmful to the client, group, or community (Nies, 2014).

Site 5 culturally - based health practices (Put picture in column 1 to depict it), put a description and
determine how you are going to use you personal or professional attributes in dealing with the
culturally – based health practices.
Submit as Wordfile.

UNDESTANDING FILIPINO
CULTURE DELIVERING HEALTH
CARE TO THE FILIPINO FAMILY
& TO THE COMMUNITY

Culture, Description / Discussion What personal

Tradition, attributes & / or
Customs, professional
Belief, competencies
Traits, you may utilize
Values in dealing with
culturally-based
health practices
of Filipinos?
1.
 2.

4.

5.

Famorca, Z. 2013. Nursing Care of the Community, a

comprehensive text on community and public health nursing
in the Philippines, 2013.

Maglaya, A, (2009) Nursing Practice In The Community 5th

Edition, Community Health Nursing: Context and Practice.
Marikina: Argonauta Corporation

Nies, M. 2014. Community / Public Health Nursing, Missouri,

Elsevier.

Napier,D.,(2017) Cultural Contexts of Health and Well-being.

World Health Organization Publication. Compiled by: Aida. Garcia, MAN, RN

Rodell, P. 2002 In Culture and Customs of the Philippines. Connecticut, Greenwood Press

Stanhope, M. 2014. Public Health Nursing: Population-Centered Health Care in The Community,
Missouri: Elsevier.
Tuguinay, D. (2009). The Old Ifugao Customs and Traditions (A personal experience). Publications of
the Igorot Global Organization.

Good and Bad Traditions of the Philippines accessed at www.savethechildren.org.ph