The Health Problem for the Population - Paper Example

Introduction

Obesity is a metabolic problem characterized by an excessive deposit of fat around the body. This is a leading global public health problem that is affecting the entire globe. The problem is rampant in the USA but has a toll especially on the minority groups. Mexican immigrants belong to one of the largest minority groups in the USA. From the Mexican context, one of the primary health concern is obesity which affects almost 75% and 70% of the men and women respectively (Aceves-Martins, Llaurado, Tarro, Sola, & Giralt, 2016).

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Moreover, the WHO statistics have shown that Mexico is the second after Chile in global cases of obesity at 9.8% for children below the age of five years. Since this problem progresses with age, the outcome leads to higher cases of obesity among the adult population. The same is reflected among the Mexican immigrants in the USA who reports the highest cases of obesity.

The Current Pharmacological and Non-pharmacological Treatment Regimens

There are various treatment options both pharmacological and non-pharmacological that are used to deal with obesity. These treatment targets to restore to balance the metabolic and physical elements that are linked to the problem. Some of the pharmacological treatment include orlistat which is a lipase inhibitor which limits the absorption of fat in the intestines after meals. During the orlistat treat, a low-fat diet recommended. Sibutramine is an extremely selective inhibitor for the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine at the nerve endings (Cheung, Cheung, & Samaranayake, 2013). The cannabinoid-1 receptor antagonistic, which targets the cannabinoid receptors related to feeding and are linked to feeding. These receptors are also found in the adipocytes. Finally, there is the bariatric surgery which is used to reduce the body weight which ameliorates risks to the cardiovascular symptoms.

Moreover, the non-pharmacologic intervention for managing obesity include, regular physical exercise to burn excess calories. Also, there is the control of diet where the foods with high cholesterol and fat are limited in the nutritional content. Additionally, yoga and meditation have been viewed to be a source for a guide on how human beings could lead a balanced life that helps to maintain healthy body weight.

The Traditional Beliefs and Practices of a Population

There are various beliefs among the Mexicans that are attributed to the development of childhood obesity which is a predisposing factor to adulthood obesity. As shown above, Mexican has the second highest obesity rates among the under years. One of the cultural belief and practice for this occurrence is the belief among mother or at least influence from the family that a healthy baby should be "chubby." This situation has propelled children to become overweight and obese (Lindsay, Salkeld, Greaney, & Sands, 2015). Another cultural practice that has led to almost 75% of Mexican male to be obese is the idea that men/boys should be given more food than girls. This situation has progressively led to male gender gaining more weight, and the same effect spreads to women since it's not a rule that prohibits girls to eat more calories.

Moreover, the sedentary lifestyle has led to increased cases of obesity both for boy/men and girl/women for preferring TV games and watching television for entertainment. Furthermore, due to an overemphasized feeding of children, a study revealed that Mexican mother gives their children snacks from processed foods o supplement the in-between main means energy requires (Lindsay et al., 2015). The processed foods are a significant source of excess calories which leads to obesity.

Effect of Cultural Values and Traditional Practices on Acceptance and Use of Pharmacology

Since the Mexican culture and traditional beliefs endorse the "chubby" child ideas, the society has learned to embrace obesity and overweight status as part of their life, despite understanding the risk to their health. Hence, they rarely visit healthcare facilities in search for conventional intervention until they start to develop related problems such as diabetes and hypertension which could be prevented. Unfortunately, when provided with medication to control their body weight such as orlistat, they tend to ignore the prescribed dosage by skipping some days. This attitude denies them the chance to recover from their problem.

Similarly, since they do not see child obesity as a problem, they do not seek intervention which allows the problem to continue in adulthood. This situation compromises their quality of life due to lack of medication adherence and not seeking support from the healthcare providers (Velasco-Mondragon et al., 2016). The lack of adherence is directly linked to the reduced efficacy of the drugs used to treat the problem.

The Evidence-Based, Culturally Sensitive Education on Appropriate Use of Pharmacology

Thus, to help the Mexican patients struggling with obesity to comply with the pharmacological intervention, various evidence-based intervention to use. For instance, the use of patient-centered care where the client will be treated from their perspective. For instance, since the language barrier is a challenge when communicating with the patients about the problem the organization needs to train its care providers on patients centered care skill (Juckett, 2013). This skill will include understanding the patient's culture and language to enhance diagnosis and subsequent intervention. Also, such training will enable the organization to launch educational outreach programs that resonate with the cultural practices and beliefs about the problem and offer appropriate knowledge needed to deal with the problem including the adherence to the pharmacological intervention. For instance, understanding that their cases of obesity start during childhood it would be important to educate them on preventing the problem during that early stage by understanding the predisposition to other life style condition.

The Evidence-Based, Culturally Sensitive Strategies Nurses to Promote Health and Wellness

Once the nurses have been equipped with cultural-sensitive knowledge and the language barrier eliminated, the patients could be helped to understand the benefits of adhering to the prescribed dosage. The patients will be sensitized about the problem and informed that it could be prevented and in some cases treated to control the outcome. First, the Mexican family members are a critical social structure and could be used to improve adherence to medication (Conn, Enriquez, Ruppar, & Chan, 2014). This consideration will be achieved by incorporating and encouraging the family members to assist the patient in taking the dose in timely and as prescribed manner. Second, the instructions could be interpreted to the language of the patients for clarity and avoid the confusion of reading instruction from a foreign language. Third, the nurses could do a regular follow-up to establish whether the patients are adherent to the prescribed treatment. This process will improve the outcome of the patients and minimize the cases of toxicity from overdose or under-dose, thus improving the quality of their health.

References

Aceves-Martins, M., Llaurado, E., Tarro, L., Sola, R., & Giralt, M. (2016). Obesity-promoting factors in Mexican children and adolescents: challenges and opportunities. Global health action, 9(1), 29625.

Cheung, B. M. Y., Cheung, T. T., & Samaranayake, N. R. (2013). Safety of antiobesity drugs. Therapeutic advances in drug safety, 4(4), 171-181.

Conn, V. S., Enriquez, M., Ruppar, T. M., & Chan, K. C. (2014). Cultural relevance in medication adherence interventions with underrepresented adults: systematic review and meta-analysis of outcomes. Preventive medicine, 69, 239-247.

Juckett, G. (2013). Caring for Latino patients. American Family Physician, 87(1).

Lindsay, A. C., Salkeld, J. A., Greaney, M. L., & Sands, F. D. (2015). Latino family childcare providers' beliefs, attitudes, and practices related to promotion of healthy behaviors among preschool children: a qualitative study. Journal of obesity, 2015.

Velasco-Mondragon, E., Jimenez, A., Palladino-Davis, A. G., Davis, D., & Escamilla-Cejudo, J. A. (2016). Hispanic health in the USA: a scoping review of the literature. Public health reviews, 37(1), 31.