Korean women's health beliefs and childbirth experiences in the United States were examined. A convenience sampling procedure was used, and face-to-face interviews were conducted in Korean. Interviews were audiotaped, typed, and translated from Korean to English. These women had a holistic concept of health. Some practices were influence by ancient Chinese medicine. Childbirth experiences indicated that language is a barrier requiring specific interventions. Recommendations include (a) development of an assessment tool with which health-care professionals can identify individual health beliefs early in pregnancy; (b) development of a bilingual pamphlet about medical terms and the U.S. health-care system; (c) development of a short bilingual dictionary of common foods for use in menu selection during hospitalization; and (d) provision of English practice periods based on anticipatory guidance principles to prepare women to ask for specific assistance.
PIP: In order to derive practical health care suggestions, researchers examined the health beliefs, practices, and experiences of Korean women living in the US. The study involved 20 volunteer Koran women from the Chicago metropolitan area, and to avoid communication problems, the interviews were conducted in Korean, later translated into English. The age of the volunteers ranged from 26-32 years; they had been in the US from 1-10 years (the average was 3.3). As far as their beliefs were concerned, the women took a holistic approach to health, emphasizing not only the physical, but also the psychological and the spiritual. As many as 1/2 the women rated their health as below average, which they attributed to problems such as emotional stress and fatigue (the study suggests that this high rate of stress is the product of having to adjust to a new society). Concerning their health practices, only 1 woman regularly had a Pap test and did regular breast self-examination. And while 6 of the women reported that they couldn't drink milk, 18 said they ate well and took prescribed vitamin, iron, and calcium pills. Also, all the women attended prenatal care clinics, and the rate of breastfeeding was 60% -- higher than the national average. Relying on traditional medicine, all 20 women reported eating brown seaweed soup for 20 days after childbirth, and 5 said that they took tonic herbs during the puerperium. These practices sometimes caused conflict at the hospital, and language difficulties also caused problems. The study recommends: 1) developing pamphlets in Korean about the US health care delivery system and community health programs; 2) developing a bilingual pamphlet of medical terms; 3) ensuring that health car workers visit the patients more often to give them more opportunities to ask for assistance; 4) when needed, using family members as interpreters; and 5) having health care workers discuss diet with the patients.