Cultural Interview Paper

The person chosen for this cultural interview was a 55-year old female from Ceiba, Puerto Rico. She was raised in Puerto Rico and studied there until she obtained her master’s degree in Library Science. She then moved to the United States. This woman comes from a military family that was a single marriage home. While conducting this interview, I gained an abundance of knowledge about the culture and health beliefs of Puerto Ricans. Nurses working in the healthcare industry meet patients from many different backgrounds and cultures. It is important for a nurse to know beliefs of different cultures in order to provide culturally competent care to patients. The purpose of this paper is to teach about the health practices and beliefs of

Many times, Puerto Ricans will first treat illnesses at home. Following the Hispanic belief of hot and cold, different types of foods will be used to treat an illness. When there is an imbalance between the hot and cold humors, such as an excess of hot, cold foods will be used to treat this illness. An excess of cold would call for hot foods to be used to correct the imbalance. Herbs are also used for their healing power during times of illness. Ginger is one of the main ones used. The interviewee explained that during illnesses different folk remedies could also be used. She said her family owned books that contained the remedies that follow along the hot/cold theory with foods and herbs. She said that many people in Puerto Rico practice the idea of espiritismo (spiritism). “Espiritismo is rooted in the belief system that the spirit world can intervene in the human world and is widely practiced in Puerto Rico (Nunez-Molina, 1996) and it can function as a religion, as a healing system, or as a philosophy or science for those who are academically oriented” (CAM reference). They believe good and evil spirits can affect health, and during times of illness they need to see a spiritual medium. Although many people follow this belief, she and her family did not follow it. Even though there are many foods and herbs that can help during times of illness, foods and herbs can also be used to keep one healthy and prevent illness. She and her family had many books that contained these