Diversity
resources are helpful because they help inform the profession of cultural
differences. Resources are great ways to understand more about their culture
and what is acceptable and what it not. As stated in “The Amish” article, via
the University of Northern Iowa, “The Amish are usually not native speakers of
English, but rather speak an old form of high German.” This goes to say that
with research a health profession will know that some Amish would need a German
translator when seeking medical help. Not to mention, the Amish do not seek
medical attention unless seriously needed. This goes to say that doing research
about one’s patient’s ethnical background would be most helpful when trying to
understand one’s patient.
Many assume and judge based on norms that are
placed on different ethnicities. These norms can be generalized among the
ethnicities or specific to only a certain ethnicity. I, for one, used to think
that since I know the norms of this specific ethnic group, I know enough to
know how they think and function and what they’d do. But that’s not the way to
go and never the mindset to have. So far I have broken from that “biased”
mindset, instead of being biased and basing everything on what little
information I know, I open my eyes and do more research if possible.
Specifically
speaking, while reading the resource about Gypsy Americans, when I got to the
part where it was talking about the Rom and Romnichals, I would have gotten
confused had I not read further on. Due to similarities of the two names, I
would have assumed that Rom would be a shortened version of Romnichals. I didn’t
think that Rom and Romnichals are two different Gypsy groups. “Many of the Rom
came to the New World from Russia or Eastern or Central Europe; the Romnichals
came from Great Britain…they also are divided by the cultural differences and
prejudices between Great Britain and Eastern Europe.”(Heimlich) This goes to
say that getting to know more and opening one’s mindset really helps with
getting to know more about different ethnicities. Also when it comes to health
issues, Gypsies prefer to perform ritual purifications than seek western
medical assistance. As Sutherland stated in the article, “some
Gypsy families turn to doctors, either in private practices or at clinics”(Heimlich)
when Gypsies do turn to Western medicine, they seek in privacy and somewhat
secrecy as they do not want others to know of their visits. This goes to say
that Gypsies will seek Western medicine only when necessarily needed.
It’s interesting
what one learns when they do even the simplest research of ethnic backgrounds.
From reading two resources, I know that I am more knowledgeable than I was a
couple hours ago. I know that there are definite preferences when it comes to
the Amish and the Gypsies. This diversity resource reading helps and it very
beneficial to a professional, especially someone who consistently has
face-to-face communication with the patient. At the end of it all, it’s beneficial to
know the differences and understand that what may be acceptable in American
society is different in another ethnic's society.
