CASE STUDY VIETNAMESE

Case Study Vietnamese

Case Study Vietnamese

Culture of Vietnamese people

The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from what is now northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam. The earliest recorded name for the ancient Vietnamese people was known as the Lac peoples.

Although geographically and linguistically labeled as Southeast Asians, long periods of Chinese domination and influence have placed them culturally closer to East Asians, or more specifically their immediate northern neighbours, the Southern Chinese and other tribes within the proximity of South China.

A Vietnamese American is a resident of the United States who is of Vietnamese heritage. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group.

Mass Vietnamese immigration to the United States started after 1975, after the end of the Vietnam War. Early immigrants were refugee boat people fleeing persecution by the victorious communists. Forced to flee from their homeland and often thrusted into poor urban neighborhoods, these newcomers have nevertheless managed to establish strong communities in a short amount of time.

Causes of TB

Vietnamese believe tuberculosis to be caused by a variety of factors. Some members of the focus groups mentioned the germ theory of disease, but many other causative factors were mentioned. Among these were the following: malnutrition, overwork, excess stress, alchohol, cigarettes, poor hygeine, unsanitary neighborhoods, polluted environments, heredity, exposing the chest to cold, supernatural causes.

Cultural Advisory Panel members also noted that many believe tuberculosis to be caused by humidity or by dusty environments.

Regarding the germ thepry, some participants noted that TB develops when the body is weakened by factors such as those listed above. Such a view is consistent with modern biomedical views on the cause of tuberculosis.

It was also stated that "everybody" has the TB germ, perhaps reflecting the high prevalence of TB infection in Vietnam. Given this experience, patients from Vietnam may not consider a positive PPD as a matter for concern, and extra time may need to be taken to explain the unfamiliar concept of TB preventive therapy. Some patients may believe that the BCG vaccination, commonly used in Vietnam, will protect them from TB infection (Carey et al., 1997).

Symptoms and Progression of TB

The Vietnamese medically recognize symptoms of TB, as follows:Coughing, Weight loss, Fever, Fatigue.

They also noted that people with TB experience: Bloody vomit, Muscle aches and pains, Difficulty sleeping, Depression, Suffering and death.

A physician in the Cultural Advisory Panel noted that patients often associate middle, upper-back pain with TB.

While some focus group participants maintained that TB is a silent disease which can't be detected early, others maintained that it can be found early, and that the mild stages of TB can be treated. Similarly, a survey of recent Vietnamese refugees found that while most respondents understood that TB disease is not inevitable following infection, a minority of those respondents (29%) incorrectly thought that ...