Analysis: Interviewing Someone From Another Culture

An interview was conducted over a local American born and raised in Indiana. The interview session took place at the Purdue Fort Wayne campus and was conducted two times in order to get a sufficient amount of information about her personal culture. No challenges were met when conducting the interview. The analysis was conducted in order to gain more knowledge of the American culture in which the author lives in compared to their personal culture which is Canadian. Some background information about the client, she currently lives on a lake in a rural area. She is a college student but does not have a steady source of income she babysits and waitresses occasionally. Those jobs do not pose health hazards. She still lives at home with her parents, so they provide for me. She has always been “middle class” and that allows them to afford the essentials of life. She is covered under her parent’s health insurance that they get as benefits from their employers and can afford. She is currently a senior working towards a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene which does pose health hazards in the clinical setting. This interview analysis will be over the interview that was conduct as well as scholarly articles to help back up the information and help understand more about the American Culture. This analysis will go over American’s workforce issues, communication, risk behaviors, and nutrition.

According to my client, she has been waitressing and babysitting at both places for about a year and a half now and is loyal to both the family and restaurant she works for. She is always on time and not afraid to ask questions as it is important not only to make sure customers are happy, but that the kids are taken care of. She considers herself to be assertive when necessary. Based on the interview she does not experience a lot of workforce issues.

Regional or state studies in the USA have documented shortages of rural physicians and other healthcare professionals that can impact on access to health services (MacDowell, et al, 2010). Among US rural counties, 65% lack adequate numbers of health professionals, with the distribution of physicians favoring urban areas. Rural areas have significant health workforce shortages, rural residents are more dependent on public assistance programs and rural residents must travel farther to see a physician compared with their urban counterparts (MacDowell, et al, 2010). The study determined whether rural hospital chief executive officers (CEOs) in the USA report shortages of health professions and to obtain perceptions about factors influencing recruiting and retention.

With the information found it seems as though it depends on the workplace environment whether or not the person experiences workforce issues. Any person may experience a work force issue it just so happens that the client interview has no work force issues. From the information discovered from the scholarly article, it seems as if there are many workforce issues within health care services. The client may eventually experience workforce issues because of the career she is going into is within the health care setting.

When discussing communication, the client stated her primary language is English and that is the only language spoken with no dialect. Due to the area, she resides and the language she speaks there is no difficulty communicating with family, friends, or health-care providers. She likes to be greeted with a handshake or hug and is always punctual to events and appointments.

Approximately 61.6 million people in the United States, foreign and U.S. born, spoke a language other than English at home (Hu, 2018). Individuals who have limited English proficiency do not speak English as their primary language and have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand the language (Hu, 2018). Approximately 50% of the newly insured population will be less likely to speak English (Hu, 2018).

Although the majority of people within the United States are English speaking there are many other languages spoken. Based on the information that has been gathered, it seems to as there are many different languages and dialects spoken. But, based on the client since she has been born and raised within an American culture she has only known that and only speaks English.

There are many risk behaviors within American culture. During the interview, this topic was also discussed the client did not experience any high-risk behavior personally. She does not use any form of tobacco and only drinks alcohol occasionally. She doesn’t drink energy drinks but will drink coffee. She always uses seatbelts. She currently has a gym membership and uses it about once a week but remain active at work and school.

Sexual minority youths (i.e., those identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or another nonheterosexuality identity or reporting same-sex attraction or sexual partners) are at higher risk than youths who are not sexual minority youth (nonsexual minority youth) for negative health behaviors and outcomes, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), pregnancy, and related sexual risk behaviors (Rasberry, et al., 2018). Within the study, it concluded that students who had sexual contact with both sexes were at higher risk than were students with only same-sex sexual contact for multiple sexual risk behaviors. In addition, higher risk of no condom use among males with only same-sex sexual contact compared with those with only opposite-sex sexual contact is particularly concerning because of the higher HIV/ STD risk among this group (Rasberry, et al., 2018).

The client’s culture seems to differ drastically from the findings in the article. Those differences could have many factors that play a role and that could be why the client has never experienced any high-risk behavior nor has any been link to her family. The article was only describing one type of high-risk behavior, sexually transmitted diseases, which was not mentioned by the client. The client did not share any information regarding STD’s only referring to high-risk behaviors like alcohol and drug use.

Lastly, this analysis will go over American culture nutrition. According to the interviewee she states she is not satisfied with her weight like much of America. She tries to eat a balanced diet but being at school all day sometimes calls for fast food in-between classes. She tries to stick to the regular three meals a day eating schedule. She always makes a point to eat breakfast. She tries to avoid processed foods as well as sugary energy drinks. She has no food allergies. Her Mother typically always cooks dinner or occasionally Dad will grill.

Older adults who lived in rural America grew and preserved their own food as part of a rural lifestyle, often due to limited access to other food sources (Lloyd, 2019). Limited access to affordable and nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole-grain products, lower-fat dairy products, and lean meats and seafood may be one factor that makes it more difficult to eat a healthy diet, which then results in adverse health effects (Lloyd, 2019). food insecurity adversely affects older adults, their caregivers, their health and functionality, their healthcare, and their healthcare costs and quality of life. For rural older adults who live in areas with more convenience or “dollar” stores, limited grocery stores, limited transportation options, and functional impairments, this food desert environment may be both individual and community-based, affecting the ability to procure an adequate diet, which can result in food insecurity or lack of access to enough food to support an active, healthy life (Lloyd, 2019). Food insecurity may result in malnutrition, a term used when the body does not receive the proper balance of calories and nutrients.

Even though there is a difference in age from the client who the article was about and the study found. It showed similarities in both aspects. There is a lack of healthy lifestyles within American culture. A large amount of processed or fatty foods are eaten often because of convenience. The client does try to maintain a healthier lifestyle but may not always show with her eating habits or lack of time.

The information from the client and articles has shown a few aspects of an American cultures. Overall, the analysis went into detail about American’s workforce issues, communication, risk behaviors, and nutrition. Now knowing more information about those topics, it is important to say that health care professionals should be aware of a few things when treating a person that has an American culture. First off, they should be aware that not every person that has American cultures may not speak English nor be their first language. Secondly, health care professionals should be aware of high-risk behaviors shown in young adults especially those regarding STDs. Lastly, a health care professional should be aware of the risk factors and the nutrition eaten within American since it may not be the healthiest and could lead to health risks. Knowing this information will help better the health care professional knowledge and decision-making skills regarding different cultures but more specifically Americans culture.