Cultural values

Objectives: • Recognize the Importance and relevance of culture to EOL care. • Describe CBPR and focus group methods. • Examine what patients with serious illness in Ghanaian hospital face.

While involvement of family caregivers can play an important role in the recovery process of persons with serious mental illness (SMI), family caregivers often endure poor health and mental health issues due to caregiving-related distress. These challenges may be exacerbated for Vietnamese American families due to cultural values (e.g., familism and stigma). This qualitative exploratory study examined how Vietnamese American family caregivers of persons with SMI describe their caregiving experience.

Backgrounds Breast cancer is a global threat to all women, especially those having close relatives with breast cancer. Women who were caregivers to relatives with breast cancer are more vulnerable to stress caused by the perception of heightened risk of cancer. Because health measures and breast health are affected by cultural beliefs and social status, information about breast cancer should consider the cultural beliefs and values of the society.

Research shows the stressful demands of caregiving to older family members can have negative effects on physical health. The effects on physical health may include: immune system functioning, heart rate reactivity, raised blood pressure levels, and increased risk of mortality among older spousal caregivers. Gender differences in caregivers' outcomes exist because, compared with male caregivers, female caregivers face higher levels of caregiving stressors, have fewer social resources, and report lower levels of psychological and physical health.

This paper seeks to explore the impact of social and cultural factors upon perceptions of the patients’ cardiovascular risk and intended lifestyle changes. Qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. The sample was purposeful; matched groups of 10 first time post myocardial infarction (MI) patients, 10 informal (spouse, blood relative or partner) and 10 formal carers (nursing staff) were selected on a convenience basis. Personal interviews were conducted with participants, during which a semistructured questionnaire was completed.