Mexican Culture Interviewee: Joel Interviewed by: Jodith, Kassie and Violet CULTURAL INTERVIEW PRESENTATION

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA Education: College at CEDIM. Occupation: Architectural design. Income: $300,000.00MXN ($23,670.00USD as of February 16 at 08:36am)

TRADITIONAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS BELIEFS Definition of health: health is being mentally & physically capable to perform any type of activity. Definition of illness: illness is when you seek for medical attention because of the lack of performance due to regular activities, or simply because of the feeling that something is not right with your body.

TRADITIONAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS BELIEFS (CON’T.) Overall health status: are the charts, percentages, results etcetera of previous checkups on the proper function of your body

CAUSES OF ILLNESS JOE’S  Poor eating habits: The main cause that causes illness because the food is what keeps your body functioning the way it should be and it should be fed with all the nutrients you need.

CAUSES OF ILLNESS (CON’T.) JOE’S  Wrong food combinations: sometimes mixing up food can cause stomach problems because of the mixture of ingredients, that usually, you are not used to; also, it can cause a chemical reaction depending on what you ingest.

CAUSES OF ILLNESS (CON’T.) JOE’S  Punishment from God: personally, don’t really believe in some religious points of view, including health issues regarding misbehavior; in a way, I’ll go more with the scientific perspective of things.

CAUSES OF ILLNESS (CON’T.) JOE’S  The evil eye: don’t think this will cause health issues.

CAUSES OF ILLNESS (CON’T.) JOE’S  Witchcraft: To me, witchcraft is the manipulation of minds through spirit ways so I would include shamans, and native beliefs. Spirit wise, I think you can “heal” or get “injured”.

PROTECTING HEALTH JOE’S  A way of staying healthy is having regular check-ups to see that your body has everything that it needs and is working properly because sometimes something is wrong and you probably don’t feel different.

MAINTAINING HEALTH JOE’S  Keeping yourself healthy can be achieved by doing regular exercise, eating healthy food and giving your body time to rest and replenish itself.

RESTORING HEALTH JOE’S  There are several ways to restore your health depending on what you need, it can be through drugs, by resting, or even by eating properly to replenish fluids and nutrients.

HOME REMEDIES JOE’S  sometimes a home remedy can be useful; but somehow old remedies have been forgotten over the generations and replaced by drugs or medicine. Can’t expect to cure cancer with tea, but maybe a common flu or even a fever.

RELIGION AND TREATMENT JOE’S  Personally I do not believe in some religious points of view, including health issues regarding behavior; in a way I’ll go more with the scientific perspective of things.

DEATH AND DYING JOE’S  nothing can be done when either you are dead or with the practice of a dead animal to affect your health or someone else’s.

VISITS TO HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS JOE’S  Going to the doctor is very important in anyone's life, but language barriers can prevent one from seeking care; it has to be someone you trust; is hard to accomplish with language barriers

REFERENCES Davidhizar, R.E., & Giger, J.N. (2008). Mexican Americans. In R. Carter & D. Davis (Eds.), Transcultural Nursing: Assessment and Intervention (pp ). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. Joel: February 19, 2012 Sandra Santana, F. O. (2001). An Introduction to Mexican Culture for Rehabilitation Service Providers. Retrieved from Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange: Smith, A. B. (2000, September 1). Mexican Cultural Profile. Retrieved from EthnoMED: