ATTITUDE TO HEALTH IN MEMBERS OF THE MONGOLIAN MINORITY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Valérie Tóthová, Věra Veisová, Helena Michálková, Monika Jelečková
University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Health and Social Studies, Department of Nursing, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Korespondenční autor: Valérie Tóthová (tothova@zsf.jcu.cz)
ISSN 1804-7181 (On-line)
Full verze:
Submitted:18. 7. 2011
Accepted: 15. 9. 2011
Published online: 15. 12. 2011
Summary
Health is a fundamental prerequisite for the quality of human life and prosperity in general, as well as a condition for satisfaction of other needs. Health is important for everyone and we should all participate in its improvement.
It is not only health workers who play an important role in activities directed towards keeping people healthy and improving their health condition; other specialists and political representatives should be engaged in this kind of activity as well. Personal participation and the responsibility of individuals for their own health are extremely important. The concepts related to the individual person’s care for their own health are valid not only for the majority part of the society but for all minority groups that live in the Czech Republic as well. One of the minorities that live either permanently or temporarily within our territory is the Mongolian minority.
This article presents partial results of a research project that was focused on selected minority groups living in the Czech Republic. The research was done with support from the Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. The Mongolian minority group was one of eight minority groups that were included in this research project. One of the objectives of this research project was to find out about the attitude to health among the members of the Mongolian minority living in the Czech Republic.
During our quantitative examination the data were collected by means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 140 items and – besides identification data – it comprised three parts. The items in the first part of the questionnaire were related to attitude to a person’s own health. The other parts of the questionnaire dealt with lifestyle, the specific needs and the satisfaction of the respondents with the health care in the Czech Republic. The collected data were processed using statistical methods. The set of respondents consisted of a total of 3,258 people from the eight most populous minorities in the Czech Republic. The set included members of the Romany, Ukrainian and Mongolian minorities, members of the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, Center of Muslim Communities, as well as the Diamond Way Buddhists (Karma Kagjü) and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). A total of 564 respondents were from the Mongolian minority. It is obvious from the results of the research that more than half of the respondents demonstrate a positive attitude towards their own health but it does not accord with the results related to activities that support health and with the results connected with their participation in preventive examinations and vaccination. The members of the Mongolian minority value their own health and they are aware of the importance of health in general, but preventive care is often underestimated. However, the respondents take their children to the doctor for preventive check-ups and they have them vaccinated.
Keywords: attitude to health; preventive activities; Health 21 programme; Mongolian minority; alternative medicine
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