The two populations to discuss are Asian Americans and African Americans. Health issues related to these populations can be viewed as different, and this aspect influences nurses’ health promotion activities. For instance, among Asian Americans, cases of cardiovascular diseases and strokes are frequent, and heart diseases represent the leading cause of death for this population in comparison to African Americans. Furthermore, risks of developing liver and lung cancer are also higher for Asian Americans in comparison to African Americans and other racial and ethnic groups in the United States (Raingruber, 2016). Asian Americans also prefer traditional approaches to treating diseases and herbal therapies. Nurses need to take these aspects into account while working with Asian Americans and proposing the culturally appropriate and effective therapy.
African Americans often suffer from high blood pressure, but cases of coronary heart diseases and other cardiovascular diseases rarely lead to death in the case of African American patients. However, rates of obesity and the number of patients suffering from diabetes are higher for this population, and these aspects are important to be noted by nurses during assessment and screening procedures (Spanakis & Golden, 2013). Moreover, obesity is also typical for African American children. In addition, health promotion activities should be associated with the fact that African Americans usually consume more alcohol than representatives of other ethnic groups in the United States. Furthermore, health literacy skills are comparably low. Finally, nurses need to focus on the fact that African Americans often do not pay attention to signs of some diseases and do not prefer preventive therapies in contrast to Asian Americans, and they are often interested in symptomatic treatment (Raingruber, 2016). Still, both groups have limited access to insurance, and they are dependent on a culturally competent care.
Raingruber, B. (2016). Contemporary health promotion in nursing practice (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Spanakis, E. K., & Golden, S. H. (2013). Race/ethnic difference in diabetes and diabetic complications. Current Diabetes Reports, 13(6), 814-823.