Abolitionist movement which began between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War was a great mobilization of efforts of black people to abolish the slavery both in the United States and in other countries that had it as a law. This movement was actively supported by black preachers and churches. The slavery was a practice in relation to black people beginning from 1619 and was practices in every state of the United States. The results of abolitionist movement became evident when in 1808 legal slavery was abolished by amendments to American Constitution but until the end of Civil War the slavery still persisted as the major servitude practice in the United States. The process of slavery abolition was significantly fostered by various Northern Abolitionist Societies such as American Antislavery Society found in 1833. Various black religious leaders such as James Pennington, Sojourner Truth and others actively engaged in the abolitionist movement (McMickle 2002). Such publications as The North Star and Freedom’s Journal effectively promoted the cause of slavery abolition. In 1859 John Brown of Kansas tried with a group of 21 people to capture the arsenal with arms to give them to slaves and make insurrection (D’Anjou 1996). But he was captured and hanged. The cause of freedom for black people was accomplished only in 1865.
The abolitionist movement deeply affected and shaped religious experience. There were two main reasons for this. First of all, black religious leaders played a great role in the abolitionist movement and deeply tied the cause of liberation from slavery with biblical motives of man’s dignity, freedom and Christian motives of liberation. The second reason lies in the fact that Christianity for oppressed people was the only way to escape daily neglect for their human rights and their suffering.
Religious experience of the abolitionist movement is evident in the today’s Black community which presents the main voice of Afro-American people in the United States. The movement which heavily relied on religious faith transgresses historic boundaries and becomes deeply embedded in human consciousness tying life of people in this world with faith for the better future.
Colonization movement
Beginning from 1770 such American leaders started to foster the idea of freeing black people from slavery and sending them to Africa and other countries from which they originated. This endeavor was called colonization. Many black leaders opposed it but some as Lott Carey, Daniel Coker and others supported it. John Russworm as a proponent of colonization movement claimed that black people even after the abolition of slavery would not be regarded as equal in American society and thus must be colonized. Colonization was also linked with the issue of Christianization because it was considered that free black people could undertake the tasks of evangelization of African continent. In 1858 the African Civilization Society with the goal of spreading Christianity in all continents where black people were dispersed.
Such leaders like Frederick Douglas, however, opposed colonization because they regarded America as their native land (Staudenraus, 1961). The issue of colonization after the abolishment of slavery stayed on the societal agenda even until 1939 when Senator Theodore Bilbo proposed a colonization of all black people to Africa.
Of course, this movement deeply affected and influenced African American Religious Experience because this issue became one of the main contradictions in Black community. The positive influence of colonization is that it helped create new religious leaders promoting the cause of Christianity to the world.
Nowadays colonization continues in a new dimension. Black religious communities have activities in many countries promoting religion, human dignity and faith in many regions of the world and have supporters in other cultures and religions. Thus, modern ‘colonization’ has positive implications for the promotion of religious mindset to people of various cultures and traditions.
References
Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961.
McMickle, M. A. An Encyclopedia of African American Christian Heritage. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2002.
D’Anjou, L. Social Movements and Cultural Change: The First Abolition Campaign Revisited. New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 1996.
Nowadays people have different kinds of talents that they can exploit so that they can earn a living and be useful members of society. The sports industry is one of the sectors in the economy that can be used to help young people utilize their talents. There are various types’ games that can be played in the sporting industry for example the baseball game. A baseball game is played with a bat and a ball. The two teams with nine players are involved in the game, each teams take turns to hit the bat so as to make a score. It was in the past regarded as a recreational activity, but later on became a commercial activity whereby the participants would be rewarded after they won their games.
Main body
Umpires refers to the people who are charged with the responsibility of taking up calls and interpreting the rules of any organized baseball game.In each major league that is played not less than four umpires should be involved. The four umpires are stationed at each base that is; home plate, first, second and third bases while minor leagues have fewer umpires.
The major league team is composed of smaller leagues that are known as minor leagues. The roles of the minor leaguers are to develop and to prepare the young players to participant in big leagues and to ensure that they carry out local businesses successful. The major league is composed of three minor leagues that are referred to as Rookie team, Class A, Class AA (Double A), Class AAA (Triple A).
The Rookie level is mostly composed of young players that have been out of high school or college and have an average of nineteen years. Class A is a level that is above Rookie level and its major league teams are: Devil Rays that have both class A and advanced class A clubs that are more experienced and have players who are twenty three years old and may move from that position to the major level directly.
It’s composed of the former major leaguers who may be temporarily recovering from an injury or who could be working out a problem that is related to performance before going back to the club to participate in any event. Class AAA (Triple A) is the major league that has its quality of baseball players who have been very close to what is seen as the major league game. There are instances where some baseball stars that have signed contracts go through directly to become majors instead of going through the major steps of becoming a major from a minor level.
History of umpires in Negro leagues
The Negro leagues were American professional baseball league that consisted of the African-American teams. It was formed in the year 1885, later on it renamed as the Cuban Giants since they were in a position to win several events.It was among the most successful black businesses in the United States of America during the twentieth century.Its players had the following characteristics: great athletic skill, shrewd marketing skill, and professional spirit that were similar to those of the white major league counterpart. These characteristics enabled its players to be successful in all the events that they participated in.
Robert Motley one of the first African –American umpires attended the Alsomers umpire school in Daytona Beach Florida where after his training he was honored as the one of the best and outstanding outstanding umpires. During his second year of training he was considered to be best student that he was given an award. Due to his outstanding performance he became the umpire of Pacific Coast league and Chief umpire of the college World Series in Omaha Nebraska. He worked as an umpire for over 50 years in legends such as satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Willie Mays and he is the only Negro baseball umpire who is alive today.
National Colored Base ball league was another active league, but in two weeks time it had collapsed due to lack of spectators who would motivate the players to continue playing the game and also its management did not have the finances to run the operations of the company. By 1951 the African- American team was considered to be successful as people became more interested in the baseball game than anything else.
The African –American players played with the white athletes on the major and minor leagues that were held at the end of the civil war. The National Association of the Baseball was another baseball association that had players who had been denied the chance of been members of the African –American club, but later on the management of the club changed their mind and allowed them to become part of members of the company. African-American players became active participants of the white and the minor league teams hence led to the success of the companies.
During the periods 1941-1946 there was massive industrial expansion that came as a result of Second World War. It was noted that the white labor force began to decrease this is because; the African –American club seemed to offer better job opportunities and economic gains for its players. The players were been given higher salaries as compared to their counterparts that were in the top level minor leagues that were in the organized baseball teams.
Even though the black players appreciated the fact that they were successful they faced some challenges such as difficulty in obtaining gasoline as they tried to run the buses but in vain. A communist party was formed so that it would address the problems that were affecting the performance of the company such as racialism as it denied most of the players the chance of participating in most events in the club. Other factors that affected the activities of the baseball game team to halt were; disunity, indecisiciveness, false optiminism of the black owners, together with apathy of the white club owners and officials.
Negro American League players faced many difficulties such as inadequate income for the members club members, poor umpiring , quarreled amongst them, there were erratic scheduling and the team members did not cooperate with their officials so as to ensure that the goal and objectives of the company would be carried out effectively. The black players were later on harassed, discriminated against due to their color and place of origin as they played their games.Some of the players did not mind about the harassment, but they continued with their activities so as to accomplish the objectives and goals they had set for themselves.
Jackie Robinson was later recognized as the first African-American player in the major baseball league and this raised interest amongst other people in the baseball game such as: John. Bud Fowler who was nominated as the member of the Stillwater Minnesota club that was in the Northern western league. He was the second player to join in the Africa-American league club. He was hard working player such that the white officials became interested in what he was doing as a player of the baseball team. He continued with his activities of participating in the leagues until the 19th century when he became the member of the minor leagues club of the organized baseballs.
Another prominent player was Moses “Fleet Wood “Walker who began his career in the Toledo Club in the North western league. In the year 1884 Toledo club joined the American Association where Walker was recognized as the first black to play in the major league. Later in 1886 Walker and Fowler participated in the white minor leagues together black players George Storey and Frank Grant who were black players and had participated in the outlawed leagues and in the independent barnstorming clubs.
The black players that were in the North and Midwest league tolerated the harsh conditions that were eminent at that time that of racial discrimination and been separated from the rest of the players. After 1890 the black were banned from participating in the International leagues for a period of fifty-five years.This problem did not affect some of the players as they continued to participate in leagues that were not recognized, but after a few years no team accepted any black player into their organized baseball teams, this was as a result of racial discrimination that was taking place in that country.
It was reported that Fowler, Walter, Grant and other players were working out some strategies that were meant to ensure that the activities of baseball continued as was required of them. On the other hand the black umpires expanded their operations such that they had over 200 all-black independent teams that played their games in that country as from 1880s(Lanctot, 2004).
In the early 1900s the black baseball started to flourish in the American Heartland and the Southern part of America. The black clubs started to thrive in the early 20th century and their members were Chicago Giants, Indianapolis, Cuban x, Giants and Kansas City Monarchs.
The Black baseball teams became attractive entertainment sports at the end of the World War II.Andrew “Rube “Foster” of Chicago American Giants and other influential black baseball players decided to form an organized and stable Negro league, it was established in the year 1920 in Kansas City. Chicago American Giants, Chicago Giants, St Louis Giants clubs were the team members. The Eastern Colored League was later formed and was comprised of teams such as Hillsdale Club, Cuban Stars (East) Brooklyn Royal Giants, Bacharach Giants and Baltimore Black sox.
The Negro National League continued with its operations until 1920 when it experienced problems such as the Great depression and dissolution that occurred in 1931.The second Negro national League to be established after was headed by Greenlee who was a bar owner, it started its operations in 1933 to 1949.The new Negro American League was first launched in 1937 and it comprised of members who were very active as they came from clubs that were in the South and Midwest of America. It began to compete with the players of the Greenlee Negro national league until it was disbanded in the year 1949.
Even though the country faced many challenges such as depression, racial discrimination and social disadvantages it remained stable despite its shortcomings. Gus Gleenee formed another Negro National league in the year 1933; his mission was to form a powerful baseball team in America. In the year 1935 Crawford was formed but it was outperformed by Cumberland Posey’s Homestead that scored 9 consecutive Negro National League titles against Crawford during the mid-1940s leagues. Baseball game continued to be the most popular, attractive and money making sport in that country (Lanctot, 2004).
During the World War II political unrest arose as its citizens demanded to have social justice implemented within the country. Racial discrimination became eminent for both the African-American players. It was observed that the African-American wanted to have equal rights as the Americans and this led to conflicts of interests. The blacks had performed equally well in most of the events such as the East-West Classic and countless games and other major league therefore they demanded to treated equally as the Americans.
The first time when racial discrimination was observed was when Jackie Robinson signed a contract with the Dodgers Association manager Mr. Branch Rickey. He later on joined parent club that was used to advice the dodgers on how one would be successful in the events that they participated in, after which he was awarded the National League’s Rookie of the year honours.After Robinson succeeded in his activities he attracted other players into his club and by 1952 there were 150 black players in the organized baseball and the best performers were invited to become members of other teams such as the minors and the majors team.
After a duration of four years it was noted that members of Negro National team began to disappear as the dodgers learnt new techniques of performing activities within an organization thus the best performing players went away to search for better job opportunities that were paying better. After the departure of the most talented players, the club experienced financial difficulties and the performance of the club started to decline that later on led to the closure of the business.
During the World War II, many Negro League stars spent more seasons fighting in the overseas. White majors could easily be recognized and Negro Leagues reached their highest plateau. During this period Black Americans were earning enough more from the war industries and they could therefore afford to attend the league matches in every city. Their businesses thrived such that Abe Super stain started a new circuit, Negro Midwest league a minor league that was similar to the Negro Southern league.
In 1942 the Negro League World Series was received and pitted winners of Eastern Negro National league and Mid Western Negro American National league and their activities continued up to later in the year 1948 with Negro National League winning four championships against three of the Negro American league (NAL). Once again they proved that the African –American could perform well in the game and became champions.They also demanded for an undisputable moral chain that would help them have equal opportunities in that country as their fellow Americans. The stars of Black Baseball proved to their opponents they were experienced in performing the game as was required of them (Korr, 2002).
It was noted that the black professionals clubs had established an all-organized baseball in the year 1879, although it did not allow its players to participant in the game in form of contracts. Therefore the black professionals moved from one club to another so that they could search for clubs that offered them the best services that they needed. Some of the players from the North American Leagues went to other foreign countries such as Mexico and Caribbean countries as they were been promised better terms of payment as compared to the Negro American Leagues that did not meet the needs of their members fully (Lanctot, 2004).
The Negro Leagues ended when some proposals were enacted so as to have the league be an organized baseball or departmental league for the black players but it was not recognized due to its goal of full intergration.Many of the players signed for the major league Baseball team and later signed the minor league contracts but due to frustrations they moved from one bush league to another although they were successful at that level.
The Negro National League ended in 1948 when the Gray ceased the barnstorming activity that was taking place in that country. It was the only major league that was operating at the time. After four years, the team started to record declined performances and therefore they could not attract new players in the game since they had grown to be too old to attract the attention of the major league players and scouts and this led to their departure.
The talented black team officials and players left the teams and the attendance of the spectators declined and the revenue that they collected eventually went down. The Negro National League was later disbanded in the 1949 period as it no longer became a viable commercial enterprise; it was not generating revenue as expected.Even though the Negro American League was in operation throughout 1950s most of its players had left the team. Within a period of two years, they had been reduced to a minor league calibers and it played the last game in 1958. Its appeal declined and the year 1962 it operations had closed down.
Negro National league was officially closed down in the year 1960 season and it no longer became a commercial entity as it was before. Even though there were some players in the team as at 1950s its fame had already disappeared and the fans sought other places where they could view the baseball game.
Conclusion
It is important for the management of organizations to consistently pay and train its players to carry out the activities of the organization. This is because the trained personnel are the ones who can be in a position to lead the organization in the future. For instance the Negro National League collapsed due to having inadequate and under trained staff who could perform in the future. The members of the club who were there were too old to perform in the premier leagues therefore the club did not have people who could in the future play for the team leading to spectators losing interest in their games. Sporting industries should make sure that they have qualified personnel who can perform in the field so that they can make the organization achieve its goals and objective and enhance its continuity in the future.
References
Lanctot, Neil.Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution. By Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, xi + 496 pp. Index, notes.
Photographs, tables. Cloth, $34.95. ISBN: 0-812-23807-9..2004 By Charles C. Alexande. Web.
Korr, Charles, P. The End of Baseball as We Knew It: the Players Union, 1960-81. Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2002.
McKinley, Richard, G. For its One, Two, Three, Four Strikes You’re Out at the Owners’ Ball Game: Players versus Management in Baseball. McFarland & Co. , 2001 Robert C. Motley Nickname: Bob Career: 1947-1958.
Position: chief umpire in Negro Leagues Teams: East-West All Star Game Umpire Born: 1923, Dayton, Ohio. Web.
African American women have been involved in the civil rights struggle ever since they set foot on what has been referred to as the “New World” (Thomas 1). These women, young and old alike endured pathetic conditions as they were transported to prisons, notwithstanding the fact that they had to do the same work done by the men and suffer an added burden of sexual harassment from their slave masters. But it is the strong will to live and die for their children and the moral support they got form their families that kept these women active in African American History in the early 20th Century (Thomas1).
Main body
The first half of the 20th century is a period in which African Americans in general set up several organizations through which they would advocate for equal rights as Americans. African American women made tremendous contribution towards these organizations by forming women organizations that significantly supported the Civil Rights – black Power Movement in the struggle towards better economic and political placement for African Americans. These women organizations were formed in an effort to advance the economic, social and political conditions of the black women and the African Americans in general.
In her book, “Sisters in the Struggle”, Bettye Collier – Thomas gives a beautiful analyses of the contribution that the African American women made in the Civil Rights – Black Power Movement. This she does through analyzing personal testimonies, biographical analyses as well as other basic sources such as letters, interviews and autobiographies that give accounts of the contributions of several women in the black struggle. From these sources the writer has been able to give an account of tremendous contributions that the African American women exhibited in the social protests against discrimination (Thomas 4). Articles from magazines and institutional sources have provided the biographers with good sources from which they could get individual assessment of certain women activists in the Black Power Movement. In such way, the author has been able to give a reasonable assessment of the social, economic and political changes that took place in the course of the women’s struggle. Of particular importance is the socio-political analysis through which the author has been able to highlight the importance of women’s contributions in the civil Rights – Black Power Movement. Also highlighted in the book are the social changes that affected these women in society and the political consciousness that these changes brought among the African Americans.
The book is divided into five major parts. In part I of the book, the writer explores the various activities of the African American Women in the civil rights struggle that took place in the first half of the 20th century. Autobiographical analyses of women such as Mary Mclead Bethuen in “Closed Doors” and community organizers like Ela Baker are given in this section of the book. Also analyzed are movements such as the National council of Negro Women (NCNW) and the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and their activities in the civil rights movement.
Part II of the book presents life stories of such women as Rosa Park, Dorothy I Height and Charlyne Hunter Gault by giving excerpts of the activities that each of these women were involved in during the struggle. Their involvement at eyewitness level had great impact on their lives, the societies they were living in as well as the entire American History. In part III of the book, women leadership in the struggle comes into the limelight and in particular the women’s contribution in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in the 1960s. The leadership of women such as Septima Poisnette Clark and Fannie Lou Hamer in the Civil rights campaigns are examined.
The type of conditions and circumstances that these women were exposed to in the course of the struggle and in the transition from Civil Rights to Black Power are examined in part IV. The activities of two prominent women, Gloria Richardson and Ruby Doris Smith and their contributions to the civil rights movement have been analysed in this section of the book. Part V examines law, feminism and politics and particularly the “Joan Little” movement and how it helped develop black feminist consciousness in the mid 1970s.
From this book, we learn of Black women’s activism in the Black Panther Party where they physically fought the police and how women were able to preserve the organization at a time when authorities were determined to destroy it as depicted in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A woman like Mary McLeod Bethuane was a civil rights activist recognized for her efforts as an educator of women and an institution builder. Between 1925-1950 black women steered organizations that were involved in a relentless struggle to go through the barriers that prevented African Americans from achieving much in the civil rights struggle. Women were educated on legislative issues and their voting rights in political elections as well as the importance of taking part in the voting exercises. Other citizens were also trained about the importance of voting. Young women were also trained for employment in War industries during the world wars. Organizations such as the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) and the Women’s Council on National Defense were actively involved in various training programs. Such organizations also geared their activities towards improving the living conditions of the black people in the cities.
Women’s groups such as NCNW and NACW among others were widely involved in welfare services within their communities that were geared towards elimination of racial segregation and discrimination in various sectors of the society such as education, employment, housing and business (Thomas 29). Prominent women like Ela Baker were actively involved in organizing the black working classes though such leftist groups as Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Organizations such as New Jersey Federation made efforts to obtain fair employment legislation for African Americans and it is from this struggle that group activities in the name of “civil rights” started taking form. Members of this movement also made tremendous contribution in supporting black troops at Fort Dix and other military camps in New Jersey by providing them with books and other reading materials as well as entertainment.
In the second half of the 20th Century, women were in the limelight in using religious movements as a forum for advocating for equal rights and creating awareness among the women about the advancement of the civil rights movement. An example is the Black Baptist women’s movement through which women were able to source for funds from the black church and also promoted the church as a good place for spiritual and inspirational nourishment. Civil rights ideas were advocated through such groups.
Throughout the book a beautiful history of the African American women in the struggle is depicted, their courage and also the admirable style in which they conducted their affairs in the midst of so much crisis. They exhibited courageous resistance towards racial segregation and played a magnificent role in shaping the American society by making the women conscious of their rights as citizens of America. The individual stories of some of these women reveal unsung heroism in the civil rights struggle.
Conclusion
It is evident from this book that women made tremendous contribution to the black struggle even if much about them has not been recorded in history. Their involvement at the local level and the kind of determination they showed in keeping the struggle alive makes depicts the kind of heroism they deserve in the civil rights struggle. It is therefore true to state that African American women have made tremendous contribution in shaping the history of present day America.
In my paper, I will discuss Ali Mohammed’s life, religious journey, boxing work and his role as a statesman. I understand Ali Mohammed was an American boxer who was born on January seventeen, nineteen forty-two, in Kentucky, Louisville Town. He was the first child of Marcellus Clay Cassius and Grady Odessa. Marcellus Clay Cassius was a painter who loved also acting, singing, and dancing; his mother used to work as a cleaning lady when his father was not getting enough money to feed the family. At the age of twelve, Mohammed Ali started boxing work. His calling begun one day when his bicycle got lost, then, when he went to the police station to report about the stolen bicycle, martin who was a policeman invited Mohammed to try boxing classes in a local center. After a period of time, Martin learned that Ali had the ability in boxing.
I can say that through his boxing ability and hard work Martin started showing Ali Mohammed on his local television channel shows Champions; furthermore, Martin started Mohammed working and training at Columbia Louisville’s Gym. Stoner Fred, who was African American black teacher, taught Ali Mohammed the art and science of boxing. At Louisville’s Columbia gym Mohammed learned boxing skills and moving with grace. Ali Mohammed spent most of his time in the boxing job hence leading to poor work at his school.
Now at teenage, I can add that Ali Mohammed won the Golden Glove championships and national Amateur Union. Ali Mohammed won a gold medal in the Olympics in the light heavyweight boxing match in Rome Italy during 1960 Olympic games competition when he was eighteen years. These great works catch the attention of the Louisville group; hence leading to marking a deal with this millionaires group. This was so far, the first biggest deal to be agreed by a capable boxer. Ali Mohammed used to work his way out in the path of a chain of skilled successes, using ways that include great application of energy with speed. One of Ali’s was interviewed and said that Ali had the capability of floating like a butterfly and stinging the way bees do.
In addition, I can say that Ali’s unique way of expressing confidence, rhyming and pride made him earn public and celebrity interest, especially in the media. The media always took an interest in covering him as he participated in various boxing events which he mostly won. Ali also had a liking for poetry and always wrote poems that were all about victory in the championships the poems played an important role in foreseeing the victory of the various fights. It was due to his interest in poetry that he was known as Louisville Lip. This uniqueness and the extraordinary skills he possessed really made Ali win a fortune out of everything he did.
Furthermore, I can add that when Ali was only 21 in February nineteen sixty-four, he won the heavyweight championship in the world by fighting and beating Sonny Liston. Mohammed in his boxing career used to apply boxing skills such as speed, use of foot to fight the opponent and use of a hit to knock out when the opponent was not aware and hence eliminating them through knockouts. In addition, Ali Mohammed was a very courageous boxer, who through his courage defeated many opponents and the application of other boxing skills made him a great fighter in the world making him the heavyweight champion.
Finally, Mohammed’s boxing work was brought to an end by physical disability in the later years of his fighting career. His brain was spoiled by regular head blows that caused poor delivery of the speech, body movements were also slowed, and Ali Mohammed was also affected by other signs caused by Parkinson’s syndrome. Nevertheless, his diseases condition is very different from other complications which are caused by very serious encephalopathy diseases condition caused by effects of boxing career for instance head blows.
Ali Mohammed’s personal life
The first topic I will discuss is Mohammed‘s personal life. Ali Mohammed so far has been in a marriage relationship 4 times and has been blessed with two sons and seven daughters. first of all Ali Mohammed got married to his first wife Roi Sonji who was a cocktail waitress on August 14, 1964. Sonji’s doubts to accept Muslim cultures in relation to dressing way for Muslim women played a part in the breaking up of their marriage and hence resulted in their separation on January tenth, nineteen sixty-six.
Secondly, Mohammed Ali then got married to Boyd Belinda On August seventeen, nineteen sixty-seven, when he was twenty-five and Belinda seventeen. Belinda changed her name to Ali Khalilah after changing to the Muslim religion and culture after their wedding. Allah blessed them with four children: Maryum, Jamillah, Liban and finally Mohammed Ali who was born in 1972.
Thirdly, Mohammed Ali got married to his third wife Veronica Porsche in 1977 who was a model and an actress, after breaking up with Belinda. Allah blessed the marriage with two daughters Hana, and Laila who was born in1977 December. Ali Mohammed marriage to Veronica did not last for so long, they separated in nineteen eighty-six.
Finally, Ali Mohammed got married to his fourth and lovely wife Yolanda Ali on nineteen November nineteen eighty-six. Mohammed Ali and Yolanda Ali had been in a long friendship relationship in Louisville. In addition, their mothers were also very close friends, even though Lonnie has in public refused that Ali Mohammed was her babysitter once. Ali Mohammed and Yolanda Ali have one adopted child, Asaad who is a son. Furthermore, Ali Mohammed has other two out marriage daughters named Miya and Khaliah.
Furthermore, I can say that Ali Mohammed’s life was of a humble class of life in Berrien Springs, on an older farm, in a home at the finish of the road. Mohammed in addition to his home, has a pond, pool and a security gate that has an intercom. He usually spent some of his time playing with the kids. Mohammed Ali through his life work has met with important people in the world, for instance, former American President Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth II.
Ali usually travels a lot every year about two hundred and seventy-five days, which gives him a lot of money to feed his family life, charging approximately two thousand dollars per public appearance. Mohammed’s best time in life is when spending with his lovely wife Yolanda and their adopted child Amin Asaad at their hometown in Berrien Springs, even though he likes his public appearances and missionary work.
Religious Journey
The second topic I will discuss is a religious journey. Ali became a follower of the black African Muslim faith after being encouraged by Malcolm X who was a Muslim spokesperson during the time between, 1925 to1965. Ali then pronounced that he had changed his real name to Cassius X. At this particular time fight for civil and human rights was at a high point and the black African Muslims had come up as a controversial but differing significant force in the African black American people. Afterward, Elijah Mohammed who was the Muslim leader during that time named him Mohammed Ali. In May 1965 Mohammed Ali beat Liston Sonny, through a knockout at the first round of the match, and hence this was his first defense in his boxing career. However, Mohammed successfully held his title eight times more.
Now I add that when War was in Vietnam in April 1967 Mohammed was forced to join the military service. As a follower of the Black African Muslim religion, he argued that he was not given permission to work in the military service. Due to the above reasons, the Athletic Commission of New York State and the Boxing world Association stop his boxing career license, furthermore his heavy-weight title was taken away and on the other hand, the press, in general, criticized his thinking has to be disloyal. Mohammed Ali was afterward imprisoned for a term not less than three years but was later set free on appeal. Three years after being jailed the United States Court throw away his conviction case.
Back to his boxing career
Now the third topic I am going to discuss is Ali’s boxing career. When Ali Mohammed was back to his boxing work he fought and defeated Quarry Jerry in 1970. Joe Frazier, who took over then heavyweight champion title, when Ali’s title had been taken away, defeated him. Later Mohammed Ali was able to fight back for his heavyweight championship title after defeating Foreman George who had won the title after beating Frazier in Zaire in 1974 fight. Ali fought with Joe Frazier numerous times for instance: a fight that took place in the City of New York in nineteen seventy-four and another fight were held in 1975 in the Philippines. Ali Mohammed was the winner in both championship competitions hence regaining his world championship heavyweight. Ali Mohammed was named Sportsman of the Year after winning these titles.
I can also say that Ali Mohammed moving forward in his skilled boxing work, come up with new boxing styles, for example, rope-a-dope, which he made his challengers wear down themselves while Ali rested on the other side, frequently against the ropes; Ali Mohammed in following rounds would come to find back after being strong enough to beat the opponent. Through these special skills and techniques, Ali Mohammed successfully held his heavyweight championship title ten times more. Ali Mohammed was the heavy title championship holder till when he was beaten by Spinks Leon in Las Vegas, Nevada in February nineteen seventy-eight.
After a period of 7 months, Ali Mohammed fought back his heavyweight title championship by beating Spinks in Louisiana, hence being honored as the first best-skilled boxer for retaining the win of heavyweight thrice in the world boxing history. Ali Mohammed’s skilled boxing work ended after being attacked by Parkinson’s disease a condition disturbing the nervous system. Ali Mohammed permanently retired with a boxing record work of five losses, fifty-six wins of which thirty-seven were by knockout in 1981.
Ali’s Statesmanship Role
The final topic is going to discuss is the statesman role of Ali Mohammed. When Mohammed’s left the boxing work, he was interested in politics and took part in social work. In politics Ali was a very important follower of the Democratic political party USA, for this above reason, Ali took part in the movement for Jimmy Carter a democratic runner and helped other democrats’ supporters. Furthermore, Ali took an active task in promoting a multiplicity of political causes attending to the needs of children and poverty. In addition in 1985, Ali fought for the freeing of four Americans taken hostage in Lebanon. Mohammed Ali’s picture was changed and he was loved as a statesman as a result. During the world’s 1996 Olympic Games summer competition in Atlanta, Georgia, Ali was honored by the world and his state at the opening function to glow the Olympic torch.
In addition, I can add that Ali, despite the fact that he was sick of Parkinson’s disease still remained accepted in the people’s eyes. Ali was the first skilled boxer to show up on a Wheaties cereal box in 1999. That year later, Ali supported a new rule to clear out the boxing side of the business. Following the terrorist attack to the United States, on September eleven in the year two thousand and one, Ali Mohammed was contacted and he agreed to stand up boldly and announce on the media for sixty seconds that the United States of America was still a development partner and a friend to the Muslim countries and the Muslim faithful believers all over the world and that the United States had no evil intentions for Islam.
I understand that Mohammed Ali is still honored for his great achievements in his ability to fight for African black American’s rights through the civil Rights group during the nineteen sixties. Mohammed Ali’s work added greatly to the black Civil Rights movement, for example, Mohammed Ali made the black individuals have a second look at the roles they play in the civil rights movements. In addition, Ali had the ability to sense right and wrong which might involve the group of people in the Civil Rights movement. Mohammed Ali’s presence in the movement improved the awareness that the black Civil Rights movement had to do and everything that was set out to be done for the movement to be strong and to overcome the problems and challenges. Furthermore, Ali’s message to the civil rights supporters and the black society was that the movement willfully to bring back the birthright of the black society in the United States of American.
I can also say that the German people working for the United Nations On seventeen of Decembers, two thousand and five honored Mohammed Ali with the top medal of Otto Hahn freedom when he was sixty-three, for the great loyalty help to the people he could not let the Parkinson’s disease to bring his promises to the end. In addition, Mohammed Ali was honored by AAI President Zogby James, for his Lifetime success in giving funds for the needy in the United States approved in Iraq, and playing a big role on the advice-giving board of the Human Rights Palestine Campaign movement, and his anti-war manner that caused him to be held in jail for a period not less than to years during the time of War in Vietnam.
Conclusion
In my conclusion, I can say Ali Mohammed’s life victory was for all Americans. Ali Mohammed was a very successful man, through the application of smartness and hard work. because Ali Mohammed is the only skilled boxer to held the heavy-weight world championships thrice. Mohammed Ali also was a leader for both black African American women and men around the globe with his religious and political look.
Throughout his skilled work in boxing, Ali Mohammed has earned over fifty million USA dollars, of which two-thirds went to taxes and managerial expenses, and some used to help the need for instance Children’s Foundation. Finally’ Ali Mohammed was a great American skilled boxer and on the other hand a very social human rights socialist. Ali is remembered for being the first boxer in the world to win the heavyweight world championship on 3 different incidents, and furthermore defending the title successfully nineteen times.
Bibliography
Eric, C. Ali Mohammed’s contributions to the black society, New York City: Oxford University press, 2000.
Harris, G. Ali’s personal life, New York: Mouth Press, 2004.
Jack, Newton. Ali Mohammed world record achievement, New York: Stone press, 2006.
Joe, L. Ali Mohammed a black Hero in America, New York: Row printing press, 2005.
José, Simon. Mohammed Ali’s contributions to the civil rights movement, New York: Transnational publishers Inc, 1983.
Noel, K. The life of Ali Mohammed, New York: Basic Books, 2004.
Paul, M. Ali Mohammed’s boxing career, Cambridge: Harvard Press, 2002.
Robert, N. Muslims religion practices. USA: McGraw Hill, 1988.
Thomas, G. Ali Mohammed’s life History, New York: Stone press, 1999.
Wilfred, Moor. Mohammed Ali’s contributions as statesman, USA: McGraw Hill, 2001.
One of the most deserving discussions of topics related to the history of the struggle of the African American people for their dignity, identity and human rights is not even their protest actions or the difficulties they experienced. It would be interesting to focus on those practices that characterize African Americans as a single people with close inner ties and spiritual traditions. Family ties and religious beliefs are two themes that are particularly important in this context. Perhaps it was due to empathic giving in the family and spiritual circle that African Americans in the 19th century received hope and strength to fight further.
Religious movements among African Americans in the second half of the 19th century expressed their desire to separate from the white man’s Christian church. African American Protestantism is expressed in the need to find your true Christian god. But in doing so, the black missionary movements and Protestant black churches of the 1880s gave blacks independence and full self-government (White et al., 2016). Men and women divided positions in such a way that it worked for the harmonious construction of a small society. Within the African American church movement, not only education and basic social values developed, but also real political life. Thus, church life for the African American people became the focus of both domestic and public life, strengthening and improving their unity.
The church institution in this context seems to be inextricably linked with the family institution, so that the spiritual forces given by the church helped the liberated families to cope with external difficulties. As a result of poverty, hunger and the constant need to relocate in search of work, the African American family has become both stronger and more flexible as a unit. Family ties could be broken for various social reasons, for example, the military, African Americans could even acquire new family ties. Economic needs expanded families by virtue of the need for unification and cooperation, changing concepts such as family and unity.
Work Cited
White, D. G., Bay. M., & Martin Jr., W. E. (2016). Freedom on my mind: A history of African Americans, with documents. Bedford.
The middle of the 20th century, especially it’s second half, was marked by the events which touched upon the life of every person, irrespective of age, gender, and ethnicity. This period saw remarkable changes in the world’s perception of women and African American people who experienced oppression and inequality and who did their utmost to fight with limitations of their rights. Looking back at the African Americans’ and women’s fight for their rights and independence, it would be fair to note that certain differences and similarities could be observed between them.
The goals which African Americans and women in post-WWII America pursued were similar because both of them wanted independence and equality with the former wishing to get free from slavery and oppression and the latter demanding equal educational and career opportunities; however, the main difference between the obstacles they faced was the extent of resistance on the part of their “enemies” which greatly affected the results of their fights and led to the ending of gender discrimination and continuation of the racial one even in the 21st century.
Main Text
To begin with, African Americans and women in post-WWII America had almost similar goals, namely, gaining independence and equality. The only difference consisted in the “enemies” they wanted to be independent of and equal with. Those were white people for African Americans and men for the women. Quite similar were the ways in which they were trying to reach their goals. Regardless the African Americans’ ardent fight, their protests were relatively peaceful, at least at the beginning.
Thus, for instance, Martin Luther King, Jr. in his Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) noted: “I wish you had condemned the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer, and their amazing discipline in the midst of the most inhuman provocation” (Fiero, 6.20, 132). By this he meant that African Americans, despite of all the oppression and obstacles they faced on the way to their independence, still wanted to solve the problem in a peaceful way. Another black leader, Malcolm Little, was convinced that “only by fighting for black nationalism would African-Americans ever gain power and self respect […]” (Fiero 6.20, 187).
Stating this, Malcolm truly believed that separation from the white community will make African Americans stronger. And still, black people did not follow this advice and chose to solve all the problems amicably. Women, in their turn, chose similar ways of reaching their goals with sit-in demonstrations being the most widespread forms of their protest. Therefore, African Americans and women of the second half of the 20th century had not only similar goals, but similar ways of attaining them.
However, African Americans and women in post-WWII America, though having approximately similar goals, met different resistance on the part of society. Ellison in his Invisible Man (1952) stated: “When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination – indeed, everything, anything except me” (Fiero 6.22, 8). By this statement Elliot was trying to express the idea that white people did not perceive the black ones as individuals; instead, they thought of them as of a whole and oppressed each African American as a part of this whole.
Elliot’s telling a story of how he attacked a white youngster who insulted him on the street testifies to the fact that the white community was never going to let black people assimilate into their society. The youngster insulted Elliot simply because he was black; merely the skin color was enough for a person to become an object of contempt. And even when Elliot was beating him, he still did not want to take his words back: “… and I yelled, “Apologize! Apologize!” But he continued to curse and struggle […]” (Fiero 6.22, 39). This means that resistance on the part of white community was extremely high and some of white people openly showed their hatred of the blacks.
The resistance which women faced when demanding equal rights with men was less strong. This does not mean that their fight was less ardent than that of African Americans. Women had to ground their demands and they were quite convincing in this. The main difference between their and the African Americans’ fight for equality lies in its results. In the 21st century there is hardly a nation (apart from some of the Eastern countries) where the rights of women are unequal with the rights of men.
However, the modern society still faces racial discrimination. A vivid example is lack of help to African Americans during the hurricane Katrina which took place in New Orleans on August 29, 2005; back then, federal government was accused of racial discrimination for feeling reluctant to evacuate African Americans before, during, and after the hurricane. In contrast, there is hardly a case when one hears about gender discrimination which the government failed to deal with. This difference in results of fighting with inequality allows considering that women met less resistance on the part of men during their fight.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the middle of the 20th century saw the fight of women and African Americans with inequality. Women were dissatisfied with the way the men treated them, while African Americans could no longer stand oppression on the part of white people.
Their fights were similar, but they also differed to a certain extent. African Americans and women were united by their goal, namely, to reach equality and independence, as well as by the ways in which they used to reach this goal, such as organizing sit-in demonstrations. The main difference was in obstacles they faced with women meeting less resistance on the part of society than African Americans. This difference in the extent of resistance resulted in different outcomes of their fights, with racial discrimination still taking place in the modern society.
Works Cited
Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition, Vol. 6, 5th edition. Boston: McGraw, 2002.
We, the African Americans happen to be United States residents, tracing our origins from populations in Africa (Jesse, 2000). Our forefathers found their way into the United States as slaves, who had been captured and shipped to work in the various expansive farmlands, such as cotton farms, in the northern and southern regions of the United States.
Even after having been born and raised in the United States, my mother and grandmother before her all are extremely attached to our African heritage, a trait that seems to be catching up with me as we. I guess nothing beats the act of one having a true identity of their roots.
I remember when I was younger, probably five or six years, my grandmother would narrate to me how our ancestors had to be separated from their former owners, and shipped into the United States via a Dutch ship to work in plantations. Perhaps it is due to these narrations that I still yearn to know more about the origin of our race.
As per the 2000 census, 54.8 percent of our population was shown to reside in the south of the United States. A further 18.7 percent were shown to reside in the Midwest region, while 17.6 percent of the members of our race resided in the Northeast (Jesse, 2000).
The Western states were only shown to be home to a partly 8.9 percent of the members of our population. State-wise, New York has the largest concentration of African Americans followed closely by the state of Georgia, the Florida. Even California, the largest American state, is also home to a substantial size of our population (Lewis Mumford Center, 2000).
Our race experienced during the 20th Century, what has since come to be referred to as the ‘great migration’, in which our ancestors moved from the southern states to settle into the cities in the northern states (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Thanks to this great migration, a remarkable geographical redistribution of our race ensured.
Besides, the southern regions suffered profound consequences, what with a majority of the native-blacks migrating (Lewis Mumford Center, 2000).
I cannot help but observe that as a member of African American group, episodes of segregation and extermination have always dogged us. Though I was born after the racial animosity had watered down, and the various ethic groups in the United States had really started to warm up to each other, the same cannot6 be said of my grandmother, who now in her late 70s, was quite youthful at the height of the racial segregation rules, notably the Alabama bus strike episode.
Then, blacks were massacred on a large scale merely fro asserting their human rights, a core principle that is enshrined in the United States constitution. And who could ever forget the impact of the draconian Jim Crow laws on the African Americans? These are the draconian laws of the 19th century that sough to segregate the African Americans from attending public schools, and boarding public transport (Jesse, 2000).
Furthermore these laws also segregated the African Americans in restaurants and restrooms, with the result that they could not access the facilities which served their white counterparts (Jesse, 2000). The process of assimilating us, the African Americans, appears to be based on our social standing; which is at the bottom of the developing and evolving infrastructure.
As such, this lead to the existence of racial inequality, with our race being viewed at as inferior, at least based on our origin. The fact that our ancestors were shipped into the United States, having been bought from their masters back in Africa to come to the united states and work under plantation is the hallmark of colonialism.
Since then, we as the black people have been trying hard to assert for our rightful place in the society, sometimes with drastic consequences that have on numerous occasions, have led to the imprisonment and worse still, death of our very own. The eventual ascending into power of one of our very own is that a dream comes true and as such, a welcome respite for all of us who are proud to be linked to the black identity.
References
Jesse, M. “The black population: 2000 United States Census bureau”, 2000.
Lewis Mumford Center. “The size and regional distribution of the black population”, 2000. Web.
U.S. Census Bureau (2000). U.S. census bureau American fact finder. Web.
The patient is an African American woman who is 45 years old; she lives in the United States with her husband. As for the most obvious health issues, it is possible to note that the patient is obese and has certain skin problems. The major reason for the patient to seek medical assistance is high body temperature, general weakness, and acute pain in the lumbar region.
Subjective Data
Chief Complaint (CC): According to the information reported by the patient, she has a few symptoms that have manifested about two days ago. Among the symptoms that she lists, there is the acute pain in the lumbar region, fever heat, and general weakness. Apart from that, the patient claims that she suffers from nausea and pain in the joints.
History of Present Illness (HPI): As for the history of the present condition, the patient claims that she has never had similar symptoms. The symptoms that she specifies have appeared two days before the assessment, and the patient decided to take pain medication and wait for some time before going to the hospital. More than that, the patient reports that she has chronic ulcerative colitis. Nowadays, she given illness does not have a significant influence on her quality of life, she was provided with a series of treatments about two years ago.
Last Menstrual Period (LMP): As it is stated by the patient, she has no dysmenorrhea or similar problems, her periods are regular. The last menstruation ended four days before the assessment.
Allergies: The patient claims that she does not have an intolerance to any medications, including superpotent drugs. As for her food allergies, the patient reports that she has an allergy to tree nuts, green apples. Also, she is allergic to kiwi.
Past Medical History: The patient was admitted to the hospital two years ago due to her ulcerative colitis, her condition was moderately grave, and the medicinal drugs she was taking included Kaopectate and Remicade (Schiller, 2017). The previous times when the patient was receiving medical help included two cases of severe food intoxication.
Family History: The father of the patient suffers from hypertension whereas her mother has type II diabetes, both of her parents are obese. The patient’s younger brother and his daughter both have heart problems. The patient has no children.
Surgery History: The patient had surgery two years ago when she was receiving treatment in the hospital.
Obstetrical/GYN History: The patient claims that she has never had gynecological diseases except for vaginal yeast. Nevertheless, the patient had two pregnancies at the age of 27 and 33, and she had a misbirth in both cases.
Social History (alcohol, drug, or tobacco use): The patient has never misused alcohol or drugs, but she has a history of tobacco use. According to her statements, the patient was smoking tobacco regularly for five years (from 1990 to 1995).
Current medications: Nowadays, the patient still takes certain medications to prevent further spells of ulcerative colitis such as Enteral to treat dysbiosis. Also, she keeps a healthy diet and avoids consuming products that are difficult to be digested.
Review of Systems
HEENT: The patient reports no eyesight problems, the vision is clear, there are no external problems. No hearing problems are identified, the nose is blocked, the throat is in the normal condition.
General: There are no significant weight changes; the patient has a general weakness and a fever heat. Certain areas of the skin are covered with rashes (the cheeks and the arms), no itching.
Cardiovascular system: The patient reports no discomfort in the area or sensations of pain.
Respiratory system: The patient’s nose is blocked which makes it more difficult for her to breathe, no cough.
Genitourinary system: The patient reports frequent urination and the absence of menstruation problems, there is erythrocyturia.
Neurological system: The woman suffers from headaches and nausea.
Musculoskeletal system: The patient has pain in the joints. There is an acute pain in her lumbar region, which makes it difficult for her to walk.
Hematological system: No problems except for erythrocyturia are identified.
Mental health: There are no signs of depression or other diseases.
Gastrointestinal system: The patient has strong nausea and abdominal pain.
General Appearance: The patient is obese, and the signs of general weakness are obvious.
Assessment
Differential Diagnosis
Pyelonephritis (Allen, 2016)
Cystitis (Padilla-Fernandez et al., 2014).
Urinary stone disease (Chung, 2015).
Medical Diagnosis
Pyelonephritis. The given diagnosis seems to be the most appropriate for the case due to the combination of headache, strong low back pain, frequent urination, and hematuria (Roberts, 2015).
Plan
Orders
Prescriptions with dosage, route, duration, the amount prescribed, and if refills are provided: As is clear from the symptoms reported by the patient, the woman has pyelonephritis, the disease which necessarily involves the use of special medicinal drugs reducing the symptoms. Among the drugs that can be prescribed to the patient considering her present physical condition, there are Amoxicillin (100 mg in the morning and the evening by intravenous administration) which needs to be taken during the next ten days, lisinopril (20 mg daily p.o.) which is to be taken during the next week, and Cyprofloxum, 50 mg two times a week by intravenous administration (Chuhareva, Bontsevich, Shchurovskaya, & Denisova, 2016). The last medicament needs to be taken to prevent further exacerbation of the disease; the patient is supposed to take it during the next three months, gradually decreasing the dosage.
Diagnostic testing needed: Diagnostic testing that needs to be done to retrieve more specific information concerning the prognosis and the course of a disease includes ultrasonography of the kidneys and retrograde pyeloureterography. More than that, the bacterial examination of the urine specimen will be an important measure helping to define the reason for the disease and find out whether there is antibiotic sensitivity.
Problem-oriented education: The patient and her husband must be provided with all the necessary knowledge related to treatment. The latter includes the principles of healthy eating for people with pyelonephritis, the signs of exacerbation, or deterioration of the physical condition.
Interpersonal/Social support/communication: First, the patient needs to be provided with the support of her family members. More than that, to encourage the patient, it can be necessary to provide her with an opportunity to talk to other people with the same diagnosis who are already doing well.
Age-appropriate Health Promotion/Maintenance/Screening Needs: Even though the patient claims to be strictly following the diet due to her gastroenterological problems in the past, it seems that she relaxes the rules or tends to eat in large portions because her weight has not changed since she started keeping a diet. Therefore, the patient needs to have a conversation with a nutritionist who will help her to make changes to her diet so that it would be more effective because her current BMI has a negative influence on her general condition.
Referrals and follow up with rationales: The patient needs to visit a nutritionist to correct her diet and undergo the procedures identified in section 2 to provide healthcare specialists with an opportunity to make changes to the treatment plan where necessary.
Cultural Diversity: Patients belonging to minority rights groups need to be encouraged to seek medical help whenever they need it despite their negative expectations related to the attitude of health professionals.
Patient/Family Education: The patient does not need to take other medications except for the ones identified in section 1 as her previous health issues are not manifested.
Follow-Up Plans
The patient is supposed to pay a subsequent visit two weeks after the start of treatment. The results of diagnostic testing will be discussed to define further measures to be taken.
References
Allen, C. (2016). Education extra: Recurrent urinary tract infections. Australian Pharmacist, 35(2), 36. Web.
Chuhareva, N.A., Bontsevich, R.A., Shchurovskaya, K.V., & Denisova, D.S. (2016). The choice of antimicrobial therapy among physicians in the treatment of gestational pyelonephritis. Research Result: Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, 2(3): 46-50. Web.
Chung, E. (2015). Adult urinary stone disease: A practical approach and management guide. Medicine Today, 16(12): 61-63. Web.
Padilla-Fernandez, B., Bastida-Bermejo, J. M., Virseda-Rodriguez, A. J., Labrador-Gomez, J., Caballero-Barrigon, D., Silva-Abuin, J. M.,… & Lorenzo-Gomez, M. F. (2014). Hemorrhagic cytitis after bone marrow transplantation. Archivos Espanoles de Urologia, 67(2), 167-174. Web.
Roberts, K. B. (2015). The diagnosis of UTI: Liquid gold and the problem of gold standards. Pediatrics, 135(6), 1126-1127. Web.
Schiller, L. R. (2017). Antidiarrheal drug therapy. Current Gastroenterology Reports, 19(5), 18. Web.
African Americans comprise 13 percent of the overall population. However, they account for a disproportionate percentage of heart disease, breast cancer, and other health-related problems. Based on the drug trials that have been done on Caucasian populations, the outcomes often prove ineffective for the highly vulnerable African American category.
Very few studies have elaborated the attitudes, beliefs, and fears of African-American people about hindrances to their participation in clinical trials and scientific studies. So far, most of the research carried out entailed the utilization of relatively small sample size and as such limiting the validity of the results obtained in such studies.
Consequently, a select population usually oncology patients has been utilized in the majority of these studies further limiting the validity of the outcomes. The problems of clinical trial recruitment are evident among urban African Americans and based on the numbers they are considered a minority group in the United States.
Their lack of participation and low interest in clinical trials poses a great challenge in generalizing findings, as well as assessing how ongoing research can be useful to this population. Strategies for increasing participation of the “blacks” have been impeded by the paucity of science to offer guidelines for investigators.
This is crucial especially when it comes to those diseases and conditions that are widely known to affect Caucasians. In such cases, there is a tendency to extrapolate the findings to other ethnic groups when in reality the findings won’t be of any value to these minority groups. Models aimed at addressing this issue need to be designed to give guidance to the implementation and evaluation of recruitment and tactics for retaining participants.
Therefore, an investigation of the low participation of African Africans in clinical trials is a priority. Corbie-Smith et al. (2003) mention that several limitations of clinical trials are due to poor representation of racial/ethnic minorities in most clinical trials carried out in the United States of America.
The findings cannot be generalized because there is an inability to conduct subgroup analyses, which leads to a lack of access to high-quality treatment for different medical conditions, and questionable equity in health services provision. Major disparities in healthcare service provisions occur when ethnic and racial communities are not represented fairly or adequately in medical research.
Much broader inclusion of minorities in clinical research trials is needed, as per Heiat et al., (2002), and also mandated by the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act 1993 (NIH p. 103). Green et al., (2001) believe that despite the mandate, the inclusion of these minority groups has not been consistent enough to produce results that might guide therapeutic decisions.
Although the problem has been deemed with greater concern and attention, significant strides are required to advance the current status quo in clinical research. The main goal of this study is to ascertain the reasons behind the low participation of African Americans in clinical trials.
Furthermore, the study aims at identifying the barriers that prevent the full participation of this subset in clinical trials. The study will also put forward recommendations on what needs to be done to improve the current status quo.
Literature Summary
The article, “Increase Minority Participation and Awareness of Clinical Trials” by The National Medical Association gives some beginning insight into barriers related to participation. Each trial is meant to provide an answer to scientific questions in the pursuit for prevention, screening, diagnosing, or treatment of a disease that meets set standards of the National Medical Association, 2008 (Powell 2008, p. 182).
The common reasons why African Americans do not participate in clinical trials are highlighted and include: little or lack of awareness, limited access to proper healthcare, recommend. Action refusals by doctors, personal fear/distrust, cultural beliefs or myths surrounding research, and discouragement due to the racial and ethnic discrimination (National Medical Association, 2008).
Mason (2005, p. 298) categorically mentions that African Americans, as a cultural/racial community, are prone to feelings of uncertainty when participating in clinical trials mainly because of issues of trust with the research community dominated by a Caucasian population.
He draws attention to the “Tuskegee Syphilis Study” which is known to be one of the most significantly disgraceful acts in America’s medical research history. Due to the consequences of this study, approximately 400 African American men remained untreated for almost 40 years.
This incident has been benchmarked as an instance of abuse and misuse of the research process, making the African American community wary of any research conducted by the dominant population. Perelman (2001) believes that although controlled clinical trials are widely regarded as the gold, standard in the evaluation of the efficacy of clinical interventions.
Their external validity is questionable especially if the participants are not representative of the target population. Women, children, the aged and ethnic/racial minorities frequently fall into blanket exclusions when it comes to clinical trials and other scientific studies (Britton et al., 1999).
Also, the ethical conduct of many researchers and those involved in carrying out in the study has been questioned as some of these researchers end up exploiting the minority groups in the name of research. Consequently, there is a misuse of the concept of the informed consent by some researchers especially when minority groups are involved in the studies.
This stems from the fact that one may not get adequate representative samples when dealing with these groups. Though the National Institute of Health demands that minority groups should be adequately represented in medical trials, there has been a continued decrease in the participation of the African Americans because of lack of trust in the trials.
As a result, developments of specific drugs or therapies fail to cater to special needs that African Americans may have like genetic predispositions to certain ailments. Since they are a considerable percentage of the total population, health impacts affect the whole population in terms of pressure on health facilities and spending taxes on their medication.
This lack of participation is often associated with the investigator’s difficulties in recruiting and retaining the participants (Shavers-Hornaday et al., 1997). There are many studies (Linden et al., 2007, p. 263; Corbie-Smith, 1999) that have indicated that African Americans could shy away from clinical trials and other medical statistics as they have a lot of barriers to the come for them to take part in the trials.
This, therefore, means that there needs to be a culturally sensitive and appropriate efficient recruitment process (Chandra & Paul, 2003). Such strategies may need to address issues like African Americans’ distrust of the investigators. Studies (Chandra & Paul, 2003; Corbie-Smith, 1999; Russell 2008) have been conducted on the low participation of African American in medical trials, mostly focusing on identifying the barriers.
This means that there is a need to identify any background information about the barriers to participation for some regions, before the commencement of any recruitment process (Chandra & Paul, 2003). However, an exploration of the barriers to recruitment and retention has not been undertaken in many urban areas of the United States. Also, while some studies have focused on the barriers, the root causes have not been set yet.
Therefore, there is little literature concerning the measures or strategies that can be undertaken to ensure that the participation of African Americans in clinical trials is improved (Swanson & Ward 1995, 1749). There needs to be more information, including a change in approach when dealing with the African American population on how their participation can be increased.
I hope to gather this information from the questionnaires administered to focus groups of African Americans. This means that factors hindering participation or affecting retention will be incorporated in the study questionnaires created to obtain relevant information from Chicago’s Southside African American fears of participation like trust and expenses as well as the uncertainty of the processes.
This study shall focus on bridging this gap. This study is novel in the aspect of clinical trial participation, and it will assess several factors that could affect the participation of African Americans in the research. It is imperative to appreciate the issues of the African American so that the model of recruiting clinical trials in future can be designed to address the barriers to participation (Chandra & Paul, 2003, p. 38).
Their attitudes and beliefs play a very vital role in influencing their decisions to accept participation or not. As a result, it is essential that researchers understand these factor,s about African American potential participants. It is possible that they will readily accept participation if they are invited convivially and actively kept engaged throughout the studio es (Chandra & Paul, 2003, p. 38).
Aim & Objectives
To identify the barriers related to low participation in clinical trials amongst urban African Americans in the US.
To explore the reasons why urban African Americans find it difficult to participate in clinical trials (i.e., social aspects, socioeconomic factors, etc.);
To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and perception of clinical trials among urban African Americans.
To evaluate the role of access to care and past experiences with the medical community and its influence on urban African American participation in clinical trials.
To suggest ways to improve participation and retention in clinical trials by urban African Americans.
Methods
Focus group sessions will be conducted at the St. Bernard’s Hospital in Chicago’s Southside. The hospital is an urban public hospital that serves the majority of the African Americans who reside in Chicago’s. 54.2% of the population served comprises of women.
Participants and Sample Size
Participants will be recruited from the outpatient department of the St. Bernard’s Hospital. Also, other participants will be recruited from the oncology clinic of the same hospital. This will be carried out by a research assistant or student investigator at the registration desk of the two departments in collaboration with the registering clerk.
If possible, the investigator in charge of recruiting the patients will be an African American. For one to be included in the study one needed to be An African American or had at least one parent who is African American if one is of mixed ethnicity. This was facilitated through the use of a screening tool that comprised of questions on ethnicity, address, and history of having taken part in any clinical trial.
The participants will be selected in such a way as to reflect the clinic from which they are recruited. The target sample size is 100 people of African American ethnicity who reside in Chicago’s South Side. The justification of the sample size entails the funds available to carry out the study.
Also, the sample size is adequate for giving us insight into the reasons as to why African Americans are reluctant to participate in clinical trials. The study will employ a judgmental sampling technique where a framework will be developed to sample the patients visiting the St. Bernard’s Hospital in Chicago’s Southside based on the laid down inclusion and exclusion criteria.
The study will involve the inclusion of all possible variations in the sample such as maximum variation samples, possible deviant samples and critical case samples to ensure the study remains validity and to minimize bias in the sampling procedure. Furthermore, due to the possibility of some of the African Americans declining to take part in the study, the sample size of 100 would be appropriate to work with a P value of ˂ 0.05.
Study Design
This study will utilize a qualitative research approach. Through the qualitative paradigm, the opportunity is less constrained in exploring the multitude of reasons behind low participation, barriers in recruitment and how participation can be improved. About the unavailability of enough information and data on this subject, the study will employ the use of focus groups.
This is because there might be other reasons and beliefs that make African American people have reluctance in participating in clinical trials. Also, the focus groups will identify any sources of bias that may occur during the study as the participants may be afraid to take part even in this study.
The focus groups will consequently provide room for making generalized conclusions as to the reasons why African Americans are reluctant to participate in clinical trials. The focus groups in this study will be recruited on a broad sample base, diverse about Chicago’s Southside, gender, age, and economic conditions.
The focus groups are necessary as they will provide information on the collective fear of participation in clinical trials that African Americans have. Subject recruitment will take place through face-to-face meetings. Potential participants will be provided with a Participant Information Sheet that describes the study and the focus group process.
In addition to the focus group, potential participants will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire about their attitudes toward the clinical trials medical establishment. The questionnaire is required to gather as much information as possible from the participants. This questionnaire will be given in at the beginning of the focus group.
Initial skepticism and unwillingness to be a part of medical research is expected, but the student investigator will explain to potential participants the purpose of the study and assure them of their privacy, informed consent, voluntary participation, anonymity, and confidentiality.
Focus group meetings will be set up to accommodate participant schedules when possible in private meeting rooms at the shelters and church conference room on Chicago’s Southside. Before the start of each group meeting, consent will be sought from each participant. During the discussion, several key open-ended, non-leading questions will be posed by the moderator/student investigator.
At any one time during the recordings, there will be a researcher who will be noting down any verbal and non-verbal communications from the participants. At the end of the session, each participant is to receive an honorarium of $20. Participants will be asked to respond to questions related to:
Knowledge of clinical trials
Importance of the use and role of a clinical trial in diagnosing and treating diseases
Attitudes toward participation in clinical trials
The overall level of trust for doctors
Experience with the medical treatment given
Recommendations for improving clinical trial participation in the African American community
Data Analysis
Thematic analysis will be used to summarize the findings of the focus groups, as it allows coding of the scattered and diverse findings from the field (Chandra & Paul, 2003, p. 48). In the thematic analysis, themes are designed and developed, and their associations to each other elucidated into a defined code. Thematic analysis entails two forms of coding namely relational and open coding.
Relational coding will be employed in this study to generate codes in the different focus groups. This is followed by evaluating consistencies and differences among the codes in the focus groups’ data, and then using this information to interpret and identify which issues are the most prominent and in what ways they contribute to African Americans’ clinical trial experiences.
The qualitative design is used because of its versatility in as it provides a way of assessing the complexities of personal and social experience without divorcing itself from scientific rigorousness. The questionnaire containing the10 to 12 multiple-choice questions will be reviewed to provide a detailed assessment of the focus groups’’ response.
Audiotapes will be used to record the information from the focus group discussions. The tapes will then be transcribed into notes, and all information will be coded and used in the thematic analysis.
Ethics
Approval will be sought from the New England Central IRB ethics committee because the study will involve interviews. Finally, before recruitment, this study will seek Institutional Ethical Committee approval from the University of Liverpool.
Research Outcomes
This research aims to describe the current thoughts and perceptions of urban African Americans related to clinical trial participation. This is critical in being able to suggest ways to reduce barriers that urban African Americans encounter and to facilitate prospective research in the urban African American community.
Costs
The cost of conducting each focus group will be an estimate of gas $20, refreshments $50 and office supplies $30 totaling to $100 per group session.
Timetable
Research has to be divided into different parts, starting from:
Activity
Time Frame
Description
March to September
Proposal Development
Included is a complete overview which will give the reader(s) a clear perception of my dissertation. During the methodology selection of my dissertation topic I will include my expertise and knowledge in order to ensure that the dissertation is original. During the literature review stage of my dissertation I would complete a comprehensive literature review of the topic.
October
IEC submission and approval
The proposal will be handed over to the IEC so that it can be read through and the research data collection authorized.
November to December
Recruitment of Focus group
The members of the focus groups are to be selected in a random manner.
January to February
Data analysis
Analyze the data using a thematic analysis. I will develop a code book based on participant’s responses and use it as a guide to organize all the transcribed data.
March to April
Recommendations
Based on study findings, I will propose several recommendations intended to improve African American participation in clinical trials on Chicago’s Southside. Thereafter, I will compile complete my dissertation
Conclusion
1 week
My dissertation will be completed before the submission due date. Prior to this I will make any and all revisions needed
Reference List
Adams-Campbell, LL., Ahaghotu, C., Gaskins, M., et al., 2004, ‘Enrollment of African Americans onto clinical treatment trials: study design barriers,’ J Clin Oncol, 22 (4): 730–4.
Britton, A., McKee, M., Black, N., McPherson, K., Sanderson, C., & Bain, C. 1999. Threats to Applicability of Randomized Trials: Exclusions and Selective Participation. Journal of Health Services, Research, and Policy, 4(2), 112-21
Chandra, A & Paul, DP 2003, ‘African American Participation in Clinical Trials: Recruitment Difficulties and Potential Remedies’, Hosp Top 3; 81: 33-8.
Corbie-Smith, G., 1999, ‘Attitude and Beliefs of African Americans towards Participation in Medical Research,’ Journal of General Internal Medicine, 14, (1999): 537–546
Corbie-Smith, G., et al., 2003, ‘Trust, Benefit, Satisfaction, And Burden: A Randomized Controlled Trial To Reduce Cancer Risk Through African-American Churches,’ J Gen Intern Med, 18 (7):531–41.
Green, BL., et al., 2000, ‘African Americans Attitudes Regarding Cancer Clinical Trials And Research Studies—Results From Focus Group Methodology,’ Ethn Dis 10(1):76–86.
Heiat, A., Gross, CP., & Krumholz, HM., 2002, ‘Representation of the Elderly, Women, and Minorities in Heart Failure Clinical Trials,’ Arch Intern Med 162:1682–8.
Herring, P., Montgomery, S., Yancey, AK., Williams, D., Fraser, G., 2004, ‘Understanding The Challenges In Recruiting African Americans To A Longitudinal Cohort Study: The Adventist Health Study,’ Ethn Dis 2004;14(3):423–30.
Linden, H et al., 2007, ‘Attitudes towards Participation in Breast Cancer Randomized Clinical Trials in the African American Community: A Focus Group Study,’ J Cancer Nursing, 30, 261-269
Linden, H., et al., 2007, “Attitudes towards Participation in Breast Cancer Randomized Clinical trials In the African American Community: A Focus Group Study,” Cancer Nursing, 30, 261-269
Mason, SE. 2005, Offering Africans Americans Opportunities to Participate In Clinical Trials Research: How Social Workers Can Help, Health Soc Work, 30:296-304
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act of 1993, Public Law 103-143
Ness, RB., Nelson, DB., Kumanyika, SK., Griss, JA., 1997, ‘Evaluating Minority Recruitment into Clinical Studies: How Good Are the Data?’ Ann Epidemiol 7(7):472–8.
Perelman, AM., 2001, ‘The Impact Of The New Sexual Pharmaceuticals On Sex Therapy, Current Psychiatry Reports, Vol. 3, No. 3, Pp. 195 – 201
Powell, J., 2008, ‘Project IMPACT – Increase Minority Participation and Awareness of Clinical Trials, the National Medical Association Project,’ J Natl Med Assoc, 100(2):178-87.
Russell, K., et al., 2008, ‘Barriers to Recruiting Urban African American Women into Research Studies in Community Settings,’ Applied Nursing Research, Vol. 21, Issue 2, pp. 90-97
Shavers-Hornaday, VL., Lynch, CF., Burmeister, LF., & Torner, JC 1997, ‘Why African Americans Are Underrepresented in Medical Research Studies? Impediments to Participation’, Ethn Health; 2: 31-45.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J., 1994, Grounded Theory Methodology: An Overview. In: Denzin, N., And Lincoln, Y., Eds. Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Pp. 273-285
Swanson, GM, & Ward, AJ., 1995, ‘Recruiting Minorities into Clinical Trials: Toward A Participant-Friendly System’, J natl Cancer Inst, 87: 1747–59
Wendler, D., Kington, R., Madans J, et al., 2006, ‘Are Racial And Ethnic Minorities Less Willing To Participate In Health Research?’ Plos Med 3(6): E19
The United States still remains the most powerful country in the world in this 21st century. According to the research by Sagar (2012), this country has the highest number of immigrants making it a country with almost all the ethnic groups from all over the world. One such immigrant group that came to this country several years before the independence were the blacks.
They later became part of the citizens of this country, known as the African Americans. The United States has witnessed a long period of racial discrimination for a very long period. It is the African Americans who have been on the receiving end in this racial discrimination. They are the group that for a long time were considered inferior to any other race in the world.
They have been receiving the poorest of services in all the facilities such as hospital care, schooling, and such other related activities. This vice has been fought for several years, and although the current society is considered free from this vice, there is still some level of mistrust that a section of the African Americans feels towards medical facilities in this country.
There is a need to eliminate this mistrust that is in existence in this country as a way of providing ethics in the healthcare sector. To achieve this, health disparities among African Americans who are diagnosed with ESRD. There is a need to ensure that this group that has felt neglected for a very long period, receives better healthcare when in medical facilities within this country.
The nurses within these facilities have the responsibility of ensuring that just as other groups receive personalized attention, this group should also receive the attention that is unique to itself. It is through this that ethics can be maintained in this sector within this country. It is through this that African Americans would feel that they are considered part of the citizens of this country.
This is the only way that the mistrust that has existed for a long time can be eliminated. The focus of this essay is on decreasing health disparities among African Americans with the diagnosis of ESRD by providing an ethnic-specific education in their diet regimen as a way of speeding up their recovery while making their stay at the hospital or home more comfortable.
Research Study
This study involved 400 African American males who were born between 1932 and 1972. The choice of this age group was defined by the fact that they experienced the favoritism that existed during that time. During this time, the United States was at the heart of racial discrimination. The country was considered the most developed and the most democratic country in the world, but discrimination against blacks was something that could not be hidden.
One of the places where this discrimination was exhibited, as mentioned above, was in the hospitals. Leininger (2002) says that there are cases where patients would not be given anti-biotic drugs that would help speed the recovery process. This created a massive mistrust towards the health facilities as this group felt that these places were not concerned about their health.
This research would try and investigate how this affects the black Americans in this country. Previous researches have indicated that this mistrust was massive among the male African Americans in this country. This guided the decision to use this group in this study. The research would take a quantitative approach.
According to Andreana (2003), although qualitative analysis is also good when conducting research, it is not always possible to conduct an empirical study using the qualitative approach. For this reason, quantitative data analysis would be used to deduce the desired results in this research.
The researcher hopes to get a detailed view of the respondents, and how they feel that this vice should be approached with a view of eliminating it. The researcher will get the opinions of the selected group within the United States in order to get how they view health practitioners, especially the nurses within this country. This will help foster trust which was lost between the nurses and the African American patients.
Paradigm Shifts
There is a complete paradigm shift from the approach that was common in the United States hospitals when racial discrimination was rife in this country. This may be credited to Kuhn who is considered as one of the earliest theorists in this field. Kuhn is known to have insisted that old ways that have been used to make sense do not hold in the current society.
In the current United States, racial discrimination has completely been eliminated, as people feel that the country should be more united. Civil societies have come out strongly to fight all forms of discrimination in the country as a way of ensuring that the society is always peaceful.
There is goodwill from the political fraternity, and this has helped in eliminating this discrimination in various other sectors. The need to have this positive change has been witnessed in various other sectors in this country. The health sector is one such sector that has been influenced by this shift.
According to Dayer (2011), Diabetes or ESRD are some of the most common health complications that affects African America, especially the middle-aged and the old. However, this scholar says that this complication can be managed by having a proper diet as soon as one is diagnosed of the disease. This is one of the ways that one who has been diagnosed by this health complication can be helped manage this new condition.
In order to achieve this, the nurse practitioner in charge of the patient should be culturally sensitive to the origin and cultural practices of the patient. A patient who is suffering from ESRD may need to change the lifestyle, including eating habits.
The patient may not know of the right food that would be most appropriate for him or her, given the new condition brought about b the disease. It is upon the health practitioner to offer guidance on the best approach the patient can take in dealing with this condition.
For a long time, the nurses would base their advice on rigid structures outlined to suite the majority of the Americans who are the whites. When the blacks were given such prescription, especially the diet, they would find it difficult to cope with the new condition, and some would die out of this poor understanding that the nurses had about their culture.
A lot of awareness has been witnessed in this field, and as such, the practitioners have had pressure from various players to be sensitive to the needs of the African Americans. As Dayid (2011) says, when it comes to the diet, every ethnic group has a specific type of food they identify with. When one gets sick, there is always a need to ensure that the prescribed food is one which meets the expectation of the patient.
The diet should be one which the patient would find easy to adapt to given the changed bodily condition. Prescribing a diet common among the Hispanics to the African Americans does not help in elevating the condition of the Black American patients. According to Luckmann (1999), it is a fact that within the array of foods eaten by a specific group of people, there are specific foods that are preferable for those suffering from ESRD or Diabetics.
This scholar says that a nurse practitioner should focus on these foods that are normal and preferred to such patients other than considering options that a patient would consider strange. The scholar further states that the role of the nurse will be to elevate the health status of the patient in a way that would be comfortable to him or her, other than making them feel that they are in some form of punishment.
For this reason, there should be personalized attention given to these patients. There should be a concerted effort by all the concerned stakeholders in this sector to provide ethnic sensitive healthcare services to patients as a way of making them feel that they are cared for within the health facility. The researcher intends to provide ethnic-specific teaching in the diet regimens for the African Americans.
There has been a paradigm shift in the contemporary philosophy of nursing. It is true that an individual would always determine the best behavioral pattern in one’s life, Leininger (2005) says that the environment in which one lives has a massive impact on this behavioral pattern. Resent researches have been focused on how to reduce health disparities gap emanating from the ethnic and racial minorities especially in rural set-ups and with limited financial capacity. According to Goran (2010), a paradigm shift would always occur when scientists encounter any form of anomaly that may not be fully explained by universally accepted paradigms. It always come when the old scientific ways of making sense can no longer hold due to radical environmental changes that could have taken place over a specific period.
Epistemological and Ontological Congruence in the Scientific Worldviews and the Nursing Paradigmatic World
Leonard (1989) defines epistemology as the process of ‘knowing’, while Ontology he defines as ‘the state of dialoguing’. There is a need to know the state of the African American patients suffering from ESRD by engaging them in dialogue. This scholar says that scientific worldviews are changing as the world experiences changes in various sectors.
Technology has changed this field a great deal, and it is one of the agents of change that should be analyzed when conducting such research. There is a need to ask the right questions that would lead to the right answers that would help transform this field for the better. For instance, there would be the need to know the quality of life that African American patients suffering from ESRD.
Most of the African American ESRD patients have always stated that their quality of life after contracting this disease has been very poor. Most of them have stated that the main reason for this has been a lack of individualized attention. This confirms the claim that the nursing practitioners are yet to give this group sensitive ethnic healthcare whenever they visit health facilities.
The health practitioners, therefore, need to define what should be known about this group and how this knowledge may help improve their practice. The only way their practice would be improved, will be when they can give these group of patients attention that would be based upon their cultural practices.
There is a need to decrease the disparity in service delivery for the patients. This may not be just for the nurses along, but also to other relevant officers who are part of the healthcare system within the United States.
According to Andrews and Boyle (2008), ontological and epistemological incongruence diverge from the worldviews in various ways. This scholar says that when conducting research, respondents would always give their idea of how an ideal world should be. The worldviews are always about having perfect situations where things happen as per the desire of the involved parties.
However, whenever there is ontological and epistemological incongruence, it becomes difficult to achieve this desired perfection. This is especially so because the involved parties lack knowledge of what should be done to achieve this perfection. When a nursing practitioner has limited knowledge about a given cultural practice, they would always tend to use the knowledge they have and generalize it to include this new phenomenon.
This may work at times, but in most of the cases, such moves would not yield the desired results because the patient may not identify with the approach applied by the practitioner. It is this that at times leads to the widening of the gap, a gap that the researcher wishes to eliminate.
To some degree, nursing accepts these world views, especially from the social perspective when there is a need to ensure that this field is made understandable to the public. However, it is important to note that this is a science, and some of the worldviews may not be realistic from the scientific angle.
As Leininger (2002) says, there is a need to achieve congruence in the manner in which phenomenologist view the world in general, and nursing paradigm in specific.
Majority of the respondents indicated the need to initiate nurse-led interventions that are culturally tailored to meet and improve the quality of the services offered to minority — reducing healthcare disparities should involve embracing change at multiple levels, giving focus on how the new health condition may have changed the normal way of life of the individual, and how this may impact on him or her given the ethnic background.
Carl Rogers is one of the theorists who is known to support the need to fight healthcare disparities. He proposed several strategies that can be used to achieve this. He supported such strategies as culturally tailored improvement of quality service offered to patients.
Philosophical Implications of Using the Selected Worldviews Interpretive phenomenological Metaparadigm of Nursing
Madeleine Leininger is one of the theorists that have come out strongly to explain the current paradigm shift in the nursing sector. According to her theory, society is increasingly becoming diverse in values, norms, beliefs, behavior and other cultural practices. Given the environmental and internal stimuli, there will be a gradual but consistent change in the behavior, values, norms and cultural practices of an individual.
This would then result in what is generally referred to as culture. Sagar (2012) defines culture as the values and beliefs of a given group of people defined by their religion and social structures, coupled with internal stimuli that are common within the area. Culture would always dictate the mind of individuals and the conviction he or she may have towards life. As was mentioned earlier, worldviews would always be based on ideal phenomenology.
It involves things happening to perfection. As was witnessed from the respondent’s answers, society expects the best from every facility they visit. The situation is even complex when it comes to their expectations in the medical sector. The worldviews expect a scenario where health experts would understand the needs of their patient even before the patient fully explains the condition.
The nursing practitioners are expected to know what is in the mind of the patient as he or she handles the patient within the hospital. This is an ideal situation which may not be very easy to fulfill in a scientific world. As this theory holds, the world is experiencing massive changes brought about by the changing system within society. This has resulted in a society that is highly diversified.
This means that there is an implication of using the worldview that nursing practice should involve perfection. This may bring some complication because when one tries to meet the increasingly changing cultural practices, meeting the perfection mark may be a challenging task.
Interpretive phenomenological may be important in this case. When one uses the experience gathered over the years, it becomes possible to meet the needs of the ever-changing environmental factors in a way that can be considered satisfactory. For a nurse, this would help in giving patients of different cultures individualized attention.
Madeleine Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care has widely been accepted in society. A nurse, unlike a medical doctor, should understand the culture of the patient, especially in cases where the disease the patient is suffering from is likely to change the life of such a patient.
Leininger emphasizes on the need for the nurses to ensure that they involve culture in their care for their patients. This is in support of the worldviews of the need to achieve perfection in the process of offering care to the patient. This theory evokes what Leininger calls Trans-cultural Nursing. This may be the solution to the problem that this research was based on.
Trans-cultural Nursing propagates a scenario where the emphasis is laid on combining culture and care in nursing. A nurse would, therefore, need to understand the culture of the patient to deliver the desired care for the patient. And as this theorist holds, culture is not universal within the United States of America.
There are varying cultural practices that these practitioners should understand when offering care to patients. In this profession, knowledge is important in order to offer quality healthcare to patients. Specialized attention can only be offered when one has the right knowledge of the health complication of the patient, and the cultural background.
Consequences and Relevance for Nursing Practice and Research
As shown in the above discussion, there is a positive consequence of using Trans-cultural Nursing in Nursing Practice because of the need to offer individualized attention to the patients. The world is increasingly becoming diversified as different cultures get modified by different environmental factors.
A nurse can only be in a position to offer quality nursing services to patients when he or she has an understanding of the culture of the patients. This is relevant in helping the nurse understand the practices cherished by the patients and some of the activities that bring irritation. This is the knowledge that is needed to eliminate the gap that exists in offering quality healthcare to the African American ESRD and Diabetic patients within the United States.
References
Andreana, J. (2003). Transcultural concepts in nursing care. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Andrews, M. & Boyle, J. (2008). Transcultural concepts in nursing care. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health.
Dayer, L. (2011). Cultural competencies for nurses: Impact on health and illness. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Dayid, B. (2011). Cultural competencies for nurses: Impact on health and illness. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Goran, S.F. (2010). A second set of eyes: an introduction to Tele ICU. Critical Care Nurse 30(4)46-55.
Leininger, K. (2005). Culture Care Diversity & Universality: A Theory of Nursing. New York: Cengage.
Leininger, M. (2002). Transcultural nursing: Concepts, theories, research, and practice. New York: McGraw-Hill, Medical Publishers.
Leonard, W. (1989). A Heideggerian phenomenology perspective on the concept of the person. Journal of Nursing Science 11(4): 40-55
Luckmann, J. (1999). Transcultural communication in nursing. Albany: Delmar Publishers.
Sagar, P. L. (2012). Transcultural nursing theory and models: Application in nursing education, practice, and administration. New York: Springer Publishers.