Functional Assessments and Cultural and Diversity Awareness in Health Assessment
The assigned case concerns a 23-year-old Native American male who reports having anxiety and wants something to relieve it. The socioeconomic factors related to the patient include the level of education and income level, which have an impact on the risk of drug abuse. The patient may have a low education level which has influenced marijuana use since he may not understand its health effects. Substance abuse is more common among persons of lower economic status and could have contributed to the patient’s marijuana use (Knaappila et al., 2020). Social factors like the popularity of marijuana use, negative peer pressure, and association with gangs may have contributed to substance abuse.
The patient’s spiritual belief that he will not go to heaven if he continues to smoke “pot” may significantly influence his lifestyle change and better treatment outcomes. Lifestyle factors like marijuana use put him at risk of developing other mental health conditions like depression and anxiety disorders. Despite Native Americans accounting for about 2% of the US population, they have the highest rates of marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, and hallucinogen use disorders (Swaim & Stanley, 2018). Thus, the patient’s culture may have influenced marijuana and alcohol use.
The clinician should be sensitive to the patient’s culture, spiritual beliefs, and fears. Thus, the clinician should ensure to b culturally sensitive when interviewing the patient. Besides, the provider should not dismiss the patient’s spiritual beliefs since it is unethical (Swaim & Stanley, 2018). The clinician should discuss the patient’s fears and identify how they will be alleviated.
Target questions for the patient include:
- What other symptoms do you experience alongside anxiety?
- How does smoking “pot” and drinking impact your physical, social, financial, and emotional well-being?
- How have your friends influenced your marijuana use and drinking habits?
- To what degree do smoking pot and drinking ease your anxiety?
- How often have you tried to quit marijuana but been unsuccessful?
References
Knaappila, N., Marttunen, M., Fröjd, S., Lindberg, N., & Kaltiala, R. (2020). Changes in cannabis use according to socioeconomic status among Finnish adolescents from 2000 to 2015. Journal of cannabis research, 2(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-020-00052-y
Swaim, R. C., & Stanley, L. R. (2018). Substance use among American Indian youths on reservations compared with a national sample of US adolescents. JAMA network open, 1(1), e180382-e180382. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.0382