Ethnic Affiliation and Acculturation
Community Involvement
Assess participation in social, cultural, and educational activities in the Filipino community. Active membership in local Filipino organizations may indicate the extent of the support network in the community. One might want to:
- • Assess for indigenous tribal ancestry—e.g., Muslim, Negrito, Malayan, Mestizo, or
- • Assess for multi-racial background— Filipino Americans have the second largest number of interracial marriages among Asian immigrant groups (Le, 2010).
Language Assessment
Determine language preferences for interviews and written health information. Two of the items in the five-point Likert Scale have proven to be significant predictors of acculturation:
- 1. Language preference
- 2. Self-identification of cultural identity (e.g., selfidentification of cultural identity as very Filipino, somewhat Filipino, partly Filipino, partly American, mostly American, very American).
Religion
Assess how the elder practiced his or her religion prior to immigrating to the US as well as the current religious practice. Determine the importance of religious affiliations, activities, rituals, and other support from the church that help promote and maintain the patient’s spiritual growth and stability.
