Write a formal paper (500-1,000 words in length), using APA format. A title page and a reference page are required, but an abstract, introduction, and conclusion are not. Include the following:
1. Discuss cultural beliefs and influences relative to the health issue.
2. Differentiate any religious/spiritual beliefs and values relative to the issue.
3. Appraise how religious/spiritual beliefs and values have influenced progress in addressing the issue – either negatively or positively.
4. Compare differences in ideologies related to the issue across political party lines, geographic regions, and countries of the world.

Health Issue Analysis- Diabetes

Cultural Beliefs and Influences Relative to Diabetes

Cultural beliefs and influences impact almost each and every aspect of diabetes, such as the perception of the disease, diabetes assessment, and diagnosis, healthcare seeking behavior, as well as care delivery from providers. Cultural factors influence the manner that the community perceives diabetes and its associated complications, dietary habits, rituals, as well as attitudes towards the disease, pain, and adversity. For example, diet is among the most significant aspects in diabetes management yet cultural beliefs influences dietary habits. Dietary habits influenced by cultural beliefs include food identification, methods used in preparing the foods, meal timing, and frequency, as well as the ritual and symbolic use of the foods. For instance, Hindu communities do not accept non-vegetarian foods while fatty and sweet foods are important cultural symbols in some cultural ceremonies such as in India. This indicates that cultural beliefs can influence adherence to non-adherence with nutritional recommendations in diabetes.  Diabetes Health Issue Analysis Essay Paper

Cultural beliefs also influence care-seeking behavior in people with diabetes. According to Grzywacz et al (2013), cultural factors play a role in health care access as well as how families interact with healthcare providers. Numerous people do not often take part in diabetes prevention and care programs because of cultural beliefs as well as limited access to healthcare services. Some of the cultural determinants associated with poor health outcomes in diabetes include lack of knowledge about diabetes health services, misconstruction regarding diabetes as well as lack of family and social support. For instance, a misconception that diabetes can be cured through divine intervention leads to people delayed treatment until diabetes complications manifest. In addition, the perception of the disease significantly influences diabetes management and adherence to treatment. People tend to judge disease severity depending on pain and disability the disease produces and hence this influences diabetes management and proper blood sugar monitoring. In addition, cultural beliefs may lead people into seeking tradition treatment instead of adhering to the pharmacological treatment regimen (Sridha, 2013).

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Religious/Spiritual Beliefs and Values relative to Diabetes

Religion and spirituality provide a framework for diabetes management and coping mechanism. For example, people with diabetes use religious and spiritual beliefs as a coping mechanism. Spirituality is a powerful source of emotional support and people often call upon God to heal them and aid in controlling diabetes (Abdulrehman et al, 2016). Similarly, religion may provide a framework for what should be an acceptable form of diabetes management and treatment. For instance, religion also influences the type of food habits people eat where for example some foods are considered a taboo religion-wise yet diet is a major aspect in diabetes management. Similarly, some religions do not accept some forms of treatment applicable to diabetes. For instance, Muslims consider pigs impure and unclean yet insulin is made from pigs. Some Muslims who are aware of how insulin is made may view insulin and inappropriate treatment for diabetes (Abdulrehman et al, 2016). Jews would also not accept insulin treatment because they believe pigs are impure.  Diabetes Health Issue Analysis Essay Paper

Influence of Religious/Spiritual Beliefs and Values in Addressing Diabetes

Spirituality and religiosity have both negative and positive influences on diabetes. A study conducted by Watkins et al (2013) indicated that in individuals with diabetes religious and spiritual beliefs had an effect on glycemic control while religion and spirituality impact lifestyle behaviors such as smoking and alcohol intake. This indicates that religious and spiritual beliefs impact diabetes in various ways.  For instance, while religion and spirituality provide the coping mechanism and emotional support to cope with a chronic disease like diabetes, some people with diabetes may neglect their treatment regimen and try to rely on prayers and God for healing and to manage diabetes. This may lead to progress of the disease and result to complications (Sridha, 2013). In addition, religious and spiritual beliefs may hinder some people from seeking the appropriate treatment. As aforementioned, Muslims, for example, may decline insulin treatment due to the belief that pigs are impure while some people may believe that they can be healed through divine intervention and stop taking medication (Sachdeva et al, 2015). Moreover, some religious practices may impact diabetes management. For instance, Christians and Muslims normally fast where they go for days without food and such a religious practice may lead to hypoglycemia in people with diabetes obviously leading to diabetes complications in such individuals.

Differences in Ideologies related to Diabetes Globally

There are diverse ideologies allied with diabetes across political party lines, geographic regions, and countries of the world (Kharroubi & Darwish, 2015). For example, some Native American ethnic groups such as Cree, Ute, and Ojibwa etc believe that diabetes was introduced by the White man and occurs due to the imbalance caused by taking excess sugar, taking alcohol and immorality. In such a region, diabetes diagnosis may show a failure to live appropriately and thus an individual may not be free to inform family and friends about diabetes diagnosis. Native Americans may seek diabetes treatment from herbs or spiritual healers (Sachdeva et al, 2015). Similarly, black Americans from Rural southern may have ideologies that diabetes results from eating imbalances and worsened by stress and anxiety.  A common form of treatment in this region includes prayers and using bitter herbs to defuse the blood. On the other hand, Chinese Americans integrate diabetes in the traditional Chinese medical system where traditional Chinese traditional herbs and practices are using in energy restoration and treating diabetes.  Mexicans believe that diabetes is caused by taking excess sugar or predestination and the majority of them use herbs and prayers in diabetes treatment. Finally, in India, people believe that diabetes occurs due to laziness and eating excessively and Ayurveda, the system of medicine in India is commonly used to treat diabetes (Sachdeva et al, 2015).

References

Abdulrehman M, Woith W, Jenkins S, Kossman S & Hunter G. (2016). Exploring Cultural Influences of Self-Management of Diabetes: An Ethnography. Global Qualitative Nursing Research. 3(1), 1-13.

Grzywacz T, Eddie H, Nguyen T, Saldana S, Reynolds T, Bell R, Kirk J & Quandt S. (2013). “Culture” in Diabetes-Related Beliefs among Low- and High-Education African American, American Indian, and White Older Adults. Ethn Dis. Autumn.22(4), 466–472.

Kharroubi A & Darwish H. (2015). Diabetes mellitus: The epidemic of the century. World J Diabetes. 6(6), 850–867.

Sachdeva S, Khalique N, Ansari M, Khan Z, Mishra S & Sharma G. (2015). Cultural determinants: Addressing barriers to holistic diabetes care. Journal of Social Health & Diabetes. 3(1), 33-38.

Sridha G. (2013). Diabetes, religion, and spirituality. International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries. 33(1), 5-7.

Watkins Y, Quinn L, Ruggiero L, Quinn M, & Choi Y. (2013). Spiritual and Religious Beliefs and Practices, and Social Support’s Relationship to Diabetes Self-Care Activities in African Americans. Diabetes Education. 39(2): 231–239.  Diabetes Health Issue Analysis Essay Paper