The Influence of Ethnicity on the Health of Older Women

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that ethnicity is an important factor as one ages that serves as an integrating force to help an older woman filter her personal experience with aging and to pass through significant life changes, such as being a cultural and health resource for family and community, becoming a grandmother, retiring, or moving in with family when frailty occurs. Ethnicity also can act as a buffer to the visccitudes of old age. When the surrounding environment, especially the health care environment, encourages expression and the reaffirmation of ethnicity, we find examples of successful aging in many ethnic communities; however, aging is often less successful when poverty, lack of informal and or formal support, or dislocation through immigration or separation from ethnic community and family disrupt the process of coming to terms with old age. The process of counseling an older patient is a complex one, particularly when ethnicity is a strong factor in the patient's identity. Ethnicity acts as a filter to the aging process, influencing health, health beliefs and behavior, as well as interaction with health professionals. Many ethnic groups, while identifying and incorporating certain elements of scientifically based understanding of disease and illness into their lives, nevertheless also adhere to more traditional paradigms of health and illness, or associated health beliefs and behaviors sometimes called folk beliefs that diverge from mainstream Western scientific medical concepts. Older women, who are often more steeply versed in traditional health beliefs than men and often act as the first line of medical advice within the family, may adopt a combination of orthodox (scientific) and folk traditions to attempt to address illness or malaise. This multiple approach is not necessarily harmful; rather, many folk treatments (which include specific ritual behaviors, and use of teas and other folk remedies) may, from a strictly medical standpoint, play a neutral role in terms of biochemical activities but a highly positive role in terms of psychological well-being. Folk treatments allow an individual to address the social imbalances that are considered significant in causing a particular condition within the ethnic tradition. Health professionals who work with particular ethnic groups would benefit from a deeper understanding of cultural beliefs and practice, and an acknowledgement of respect for these practices. Among the variety of writings on ethnicity and health or ethnicity and aging that have appeared are practical texts on communication strategies with various ethnic groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)