Interview and Reflection: Social Policy in Health and Human Service

This assignment explores social policy in health and human services through an interview with a woman of Asian descent. The student, a Native American, interviewed the woman about her healthcare experiences, beliefs, and practices, including her perception of healthcare providers and the impact of cultural differences. The interview revealed challenges related to language barriers, the cost of services, and the use of traditional medicine, such as Chinese medicine and acupuncture. The reflection section discusses the student's preconceptions about Asian culture, including the importance of family and the emphasis on education. The student learned about the use of herbal medicines and acupuncture and the differences in healthcare practices between Asian and American cultures. The reflection highlights the impact of collectivism in Asian culture and the importance of understanding cultural factors in healthcare, referencing various academic sources to support the findings.

Running head: SOCIAL POLICY IN HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE 1
Social Policy in Health and Human Service
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Interview Questions
Question: Great to meet you, mum, am Jim and am a Native American. What is your name and
your culture, please?
Answer: Thank you, Jim, am called Yang an Asian
Question: Thank you. So what is your experience here in America now that you were born in
Asia?
Answer: I do experience severe health issues such as inadequate health because of cultural
reasons. As in, we have our way of solving health issues, unlike here in the USA.
Question: What is the quality of services you get here in healthcare settings?
Answer: Its hard question, Jim but anyway. There is usually a misinterpretation of information
because of language. Here in the USA, the healthcare providers do not understand our language
correctly, and we vividly know English so expressing how you are is a problem. So I can say
there are inadequate interpretation services.
Question: How about our health services in terms of costs?
Answer: The services here are costly since many of us do not have health insurance
Question: What is your perception and believes in health issues?
Answer: We have our way of seeking a cure. We have traditional medicines that cure very fast
and no expensive. Just to name a few, we have the Chinese medicine which we use to restore
harmony. Harmony, in our case, is health, good weather, and good fortune.
Question: Apart from Chinese medicine, which other drugs do you use?

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Answer: Our homeland has a lot of drugs. I can't mention all. We have herbal medicine, which
is holistic and used to regulate the natural balance of the body. There is also Acupuncture. This
usually helps to facilitate the flow of energy in the body and mind. It treats asthma, headache,
anxiety, and depression.
Reflection of the experience
Am a Native American, and I interviewed the Asian born woman on her health care
beliefs and practices, the perception of health care and health care providers and lastly perception
of disease and disability? Some of the interview questions that I asked her, as highlighted above.
Did you have preconceptions about people from this sociocultural group before the
interview?
Yes, actually what I knew about the Asian people is that worldwide they are known of
having a strong emphasis about the importance of a family. This is due to the hardship they and
their parents have experienced in the past. Their extended family involves several generations of
immediate family and relatives. Within their extended family, loyalty to the family is expected
at all times. Family members should refrain from bringing shame and disgrace to themselves
and their family (Tabora & Flaskerud, 2015). For this reason, it is essential to remember to
establish inner strength to prevent and handle conflict. I didn’t know about their stands as far as
health issues are concerned.
The other thing that I knew about the Asian culture is that the value of Asians toward
education surrounds Asians parents' belief that education is vital for self-advancement and that
their children's primary purpose in life is to make them proud. Asian parents firmly believe in
instilling beliefs and values characteristic of extrinsic motivation into their children from a young

SOCIAL POLICY IN HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE 4
age. Parents believe that with their involvement in their children education will enhance their
academic achievement (Wu, West, Chen & Hergert, 2016). Culture and home environment
profoundly influence these factors.
I also had a preconception that the Asian American always faces interpersonal
discrimination while seeking healthcare services, which is associated with poor self-related
health status (Steers, Elliott, Nemiro, Ditman & Oskamp, 2015).
If so, did those preconceptions change as a result of your interaction?
Although we didn't talk much about how they perceive education, I realized they are
profoundly affected by the language barrier in the USA. This is evidenced where Yang told me
during the interview that times, they find it difficult to express how they are sick because they
are not fluent in English. In contrary, the outstanding performances of Asian children have
received significant recognition, nationwide (Pérez & Martinez, 2018). Asians children are
among the highest achievers academically. Conversely, over the years, studies have been
conducted to determine possible causes of the superior performance of Asian children.
Did you learn anything new about the health care practices or beliefs of people from this
sociocultural group?
Yes. I learned a lot about Asian American individuals. Earlier I didn't know that they get
medication depending on their cultures. I also realized the morals and values that Asians and
Americans uphold respectively involve similar and dissimilar practices. Some would say that the
values of the Asians differ significantly among other ethnicities (LaFromboise, 2014). Some of
the similar values held by both Asian-American and Native-Americans is that they are family

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oriented, maintaining family traditions, and as parents, support and encourage their children to
achieve an education. However, in terms of healthcare practices, they are different.
The other thing that I like is how Asian Americans use their drugs at their homeland. As an
illustration, the mental diseases treatment is affected by cultural, generation and acculturation
levels in Asia. Therefore, the caregiver should first asses these specific factors before
administering drugs to the Asian American patient (Abe-Kim, Takeuchi, Hong, Zane, Sue,
Spencer & Alegría, 2016). Furthermore, I didn’t have any idea about acupuncture. It’s interesting
since Yang made me understand that it treats several disorders including asthma, gynecological
problems, and conditions such as muscular pains
When it comes to the differences between Asian values and the dominant American values,
there is a vast variety. The Asian culture is high on collectivism. In a culture that emphasizes
interdependence, agreeableness may promote the preservation of social harmony while
extraversion may violate those values (Ibrahim, Ohnishi & Sandhu, 2015).
During the interview, Yang made me learn something about myself. I realize that I had
not done enough research to know the Asian culture.

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References
Abe-Kim, J., Takeuchi, D. T., Hong, S., Zane, N., Sue, S., Spencer, M. S., ... & Alegría, M.
(2016). Use of mental health-related services among immigrant and US-born Asian
Americans: results from the National Latino and Asian American study. American
journal of public health, 97(1), 91-98.
Ibrahim, F., Ohnishi, H., & Sandhu, D. S., (2015). Asian American identity development: A
culture-specific model for South Asian Americans. Journal of Multicultural Counseling
and Development, 25(1), 34-50.
LaFromboise, T. D., (2014). American Indian mental health policy. American
Psychologist, 43(5), 388.
Pérez, L. M., & Martinez, J. (2018). Community health workers: social justice and policy
advocates for community health and well-being. American journal of public
health, 98(1), 11-14.
Steers, W. N., Elliott, E., Nemiro, J., Ditman, D., & Oskamp, S. (2015). Health beliefs as
predictors of HIV-preventive behavior and ethnic differences in prediction. The Journal
of Social Psychology, 136(1), 99-110.
Tabora, B. L., & Flaskerud, J. H. (2015). Mental health beliefs, practices, and knowledge of
Chinese American immigrant women. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 18(3), 173-189.
Uba, L., (2016). Cultural barriers to health care for Southeast Asian refugees — public health
reports, 107(5), 544.

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Wu, T. Y., West, B., Chen, Y. W., & Hergert, C. (2016). Health beliefs and practices related to
breast cancer screening in Filipino, Chinese, and Asian-Indian women. Cancer detection
and prevention, 30(1), 58-66.