The Use of Traditional Chinese Culture and Values in Social Work Health Care Related Interventions in Hong Kong

The Use of Traditional Chinese Culture and Values in Social Work Health Care Related Interventions in Hong Kong
Journal article by Cecilia Lai-Wan Chan, Howard A. Palley; Health and Social Work, Vol. 30, 2005


Journal Article Excerpt

The Use of Traditional Chinese Culture and Values in Social Work Health Care Related Interventions in Hong Kong.

by Cecilia Lai-Wan Chan , Howard A. Palley
This column presents information about traditional Chinese values and "ways of thinking" and how such values and understandings may affect or hinder a Western approach to social work practice. We suggest approaches that practitioners can use to adjust their practice to acknowledge and build on cultural values in ways that are therapeutic in health and mental health settings. We examine primarily the relevance of traditional Chinese culture and practices to effective therapeutic techniques among the Chinese population in Hong Kong that is imbued with this culture. (We acknowledge that not all Hong Kong Chinese, who constitute 95 percent of Hong Kong's population follow this traditional way of life.)
USING TRADITIONAL CHINESE CULTURE TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTIONS
The following examples describe some of the cultural and behavioral characteristics of traditional patients and their families and indicate how these characteristics can be used to facilitate successful social work practice in health and mental health settings (Chan, 2001).
Value Placed on Learning
Because many Chinese people put considerable emphasis on academic achievement, social workers can design courses or programs that are educational in nature. Traditional Chinese come to classes more readily than to less formal groups because they are more willing to learn in a formally structured environment (Ho, 1986). Instructions using a cognitive--behavioral training approach have been found to generate good responses (Leung, 1997). In counseling groups for cancer patients, as well as anxious or depressed single parents and divorcees, programs were packaged in the form of training classes (Chan et al., 1996; Law et al., 1998). The participants were active in doing their "home-work assignment" and participated actively in learning breathing exercises and acupressure points during the classes (Chan & Chow, 1998). Such psychosocial-educational intervention may be more facilitative for a traditional Chinese population than an emotion-focused intervention (Chan & Chow).
Use of Culture and Tradition
To prevent clients from feeling a "loss of face," social workers may use a consultation approach, which involves older family members and parents as consultants instead of clients (Bond & Hwang, 1986). Chinese people, who are pragmatic, willingly participate in collective problem solving if they are not seen as "the client" but as helpers. A bereavement center in Hong Kong invited bereaved husbands to share their experiences as men with the focused goal of helping a female social worker understand men in grief. These widowers were then more willing to share their feelings because they felt that they were contributing to the social worker's ability to help other bereaved men. If the social worker can show a sincere appreciation of the individual's pride in Chinese ethnicity and respect for Chinese cultural norms, the clients often show a beneficial therapeutic effect.
Respect for Rituals
Traditional Chinese families continue to participate in family rituals and celebrate major Chinese festivals. Such practices enhance family interactions that legitimize the showing of concern for one another during such events as the illness or death of a family member. Families may go as a group to sweep the graveyard of ancestors twice a year and make wishes in public for good health for all family members. Death rituals can be used also to reduce the pain of bereavement and hasten recovery (Chan, 1998a, 1998b; Chow, 1995; Yang, 1995a, 1995b).
During major festivals such as the full moon dinner, the dragon boat festival, end of the year gatherings, and the Chinese New Year, there are family meals and social exchanges of gifts and good wishes. Such gatherings may be an important source of information for social work diagnosis involving health and mental health problems.
Moreover, if social workers can be more active in home visits, especially during meal time, the social worker is able to generate important information about family health-related problems and bereavement that can never be generated in office interviews.
Promoting the Acceptance of Illness, Adversity, and Loss
Traditional Chinese values place strong emphasis on concepts such as Buddhist and Confucian virtues of "enduring" suffering (Yang, 1995a). Elderly people can easily talk about their chronic illness-related pains and suffering and therefore should not be told by social work counselors that "they will get over it" (Shanghai Cancer Club, 1993).
Especially in circumstances where health and mental health problems combine with social and economic adversities that are beyond the individual's control or ability to change, acceptance and willingness to endure suffering ...

End of free preview...

To continue reading this publication, you must have a Questia Subscription.