Hispanic Mothers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Selected Children's Health Problems

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the Hispanic mothers' initial sources of advice and help with children's illnesses; beliefs about the etiology and seriousness of certain children's illnesses, namely, fever; cough, diarrhea, vomiting, conjunctivitis, skin rash, minor wounds, and burns; and practices for the management of these children's health problems, including the use of home remedies, if any. Interviews were conducted with 100 women of Hispanic origin who had at least one child age 5 years or less and who were attending a community clinic in a rural area of central California. Mothers 'beliefs about problem etiologies varied widely and revealed several misconceptions, folk beliefs, and lack of knowledge. The findings also revealed that only 32% of the mothers used or would use health professionals as the initial source of advice or help with children ' problems. The majority of the subjects (81%) admitted to using home remedies to manage children 's problems; 17% sought the help of a folk healer (mainly for the treatment of empacho). The various types of home remedies used by mothers were described and included the ingestion or application of certainfoods, fluids, herbal teas, or other materials as well as methods to eliminate the perceived causes of the problems. It is important to note that 11% of the mothers had used azarcon or greta (substances containing lead) for treating empacho and other stomach problems in children. The need for culturally responsive and sensitive health care is discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams, W. R. (1986). Economic factors influencing the use of folk remedies. Texas Medicine, 82(12), 32-33.

Benenson, A. S. (1990). Control of communicable diseases in man (15th ed.). Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.

Bose, A. , Vashistha, K. , & O'Loughlin, B. J. (1983). Azarcon por empacho-Another cause of lead toxicity. Pediatrics, 72(1), 106-108.

Chesney, A. P. , Thompson, B. L. , Guevara, A. , Vela, A. , & Schottstaedt, M. F. (1980). Mexican-American folk medicine: Implications for the family physician. Journal of Family Practice, 11(4), 567-574.

Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association . (1991). Hispanic health in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, 265(2), 248-252.

Foster, R. L. , Hunsberger, M. M. , & Anderson, J.J.T. (1989). Family-centered nursing care of children. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.

Gomez, G. E. , & Gomez, E. A. (1985). Folkhealing among Hispanic Americans. Public Health Nursing, 2(4), 245-249.

Gonzalez-Swafford, M. J. , & Gutierrez, M. G. (1983). Ethno-medical beliefs and practices of Mexican-Americans. Nurse Practitioner, 8(10), 29-30, 32-32, 34-34.

Koch, D. (1988). Migrant day care and health status of migrant preschoolers: A review of the literature. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 5(4), 221-233.

10.

Kosarchyn, C. (1990). An investigation of the health needs of Hispanic elementary school children as perceived by school nurses (Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 1990). Dissertation Abstracts International, 51, 09A.

11.

Kowalchick, C. , & Hylton, W. H. (Eds.). (1987). Rodale's illustrated encyclopedia of herbs. Emmaus, PA: Rodale.

12.

Krajewski-Jaime, E. R. (1991). Folk-healing among Mexican-American families as a consideration in the delivery of child welfare and child health care services. Child Welfare, 70(2), 157-167.

13.

Kuipers, J. (1991). Mexican-Americans. In J. N. Giger & R. E. Davidhizar (Eds.), Transcultural nursing: Assessment and intervention (pp. 185-212). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Yearbook.

14.

Malcolm, S. (1981). The encyclopedia of herbs and herbalism. New York: Crescent.

15.

Marsh, W. W. , & Hentges, K. (1988). Mexican folk remedies and conventional medical care. American Family Physician, 37(3), 257-262.

16.

Meleis, A. I. , Lipson, J. G. , & Paul, S. M. (1992). Ethnicity and health among five Middle Eastern immigrant groups. Nursing Research, 41(2), 98-103.

17.

National Center for Health Statistics . (1991). Health United States 1990 (DHHS Publication No. PHS 91-1232). Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service.

18.

Perrone, B. , Stockel, H. H. , & Krueger, V. (1989). Medicine women, curanderas, and women doctors. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

19.

Poma, P. A. (1984). A dangerous folk therapy. Journal of the National Medical Association, 76(4), 387-389.

20.

Reinert, B. R. (1986). The health care beliefs and values of Mexican-Americans. Home Health Care Nurse, 4, 23, 26-27, 30-31.

21.

Ripley, G. D. (1986). Mexican-American folk remedies: Their place in health care. Texas Medicine, 82, 41-44.

22.

Stasiak, D. B. (1991). Culture care theory with Mexican-Americans in an urban context. In M. M. Leininger (Ed.), Culture care diversity and universality: A theory of nursing (Publication No. 15-2402, pp. 179-201). New York: National League for Nursing.

23.

Trevino, F. M. , Moyer, M. E. , Valdez, R. B. , & Stroup-Benham, C. A. (1991). Health insurance coverage and utilization of health services by Mexican-Americans, Mainland Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans. Journal of the American Medical Association, 265(2), 233-237.

24.

Trotter, R. T. II. (1985). Folk medicine in the Southwest: Myths and medical facts. Postgraduate Medicine, 78(8), 167-170, 173-173, 176-179.

25.

Trotter, R. T. II. (1990). The cultural parameters of lead poisoning: A medical anthropologist's view of intervention in environmental lead exposure. Environmental Health Perspectives, 89, 79-84.

26.

Trotter, R. T. II , & Chavira, J. A. (1981). Curanderismo: Mexican Americanfolkhealing. Athens: University of Georgia Press.

27.

U.S. Bureau of Census . (1991). Census of population and housing summary, 1990 (Tape File 1). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

28.

White-Means, S. I. , Thornton, M. C. , & Yeo, J. S. (1989). Sociodemographic and health factors influencing Black and Hispanic use of the hospital emergency room. Journal of the National Medical Association, 81, 72-80.

29.

Winkelman, M. (1986). Frequently used medicinal plants in Baja California Norte. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 18, 109-131.