Giger-Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model Analysis

The island of Hispaniola is home to Haiti, a small country with a rich history of great triumph and great tragedy. In 1804, they became the first black republic in the world (Giger, 2004). More recently, they endured massive earthquakes that again changed the lives of their people. As a nurse, it is important to understand the culture that has shaped a client’s beliefs. The Giger- Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model aids this understanding by focusing our attention on six facets of culture; communication, time, space, social organization, environmental control, and biological variation. Creole and French are the national languages of Haiti, with French being spoken only by the “upper class” in business or politics, accounting for only 10% of the population (Metz and Library of Congress, 2001). According to CIA.gov, the average literacy rate is 60.7% (2016). Taking these facts into account, we can see that we will most likely need an interpreter and we cannot rely on written information when providing client education. Nurses should take care when asking if a client is able to read, this may embarrass them and they may not ask any more questions (Colin). Haitians tend to be present time oriented, thinking mainly of the here and now. Colin and Hastings suggest they see time as flexible and it is not rude to …show more content…
Only the small wealthy class obtains legal marriages. “Common-law marriage gives the father of the family much freedom and imposes much of the responsibility of caring for and meeting the needs of the family unit on the mother” (Giger, 2013). This culture believes mostly in folk medicine, and so do not follow preventative care measures. It is important to educate the mother on how she can prevent her children from contacting avoidable diseases. Just as important, is being direct with males when obtaining sexual medical history, bisexuality is not uncommon (Giger,