n their religious beliefs and cultural customs. Spirituality also varies because of the diverse nature of the population.
Healthcare practices are diverse because most of the patients have some type of chronic illness (diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease etc.) or have problems due to aging and receive healthcare form a variety of sources, such as family carers, visiting nurses, healthcare workers, clinics, family doctors and family healthcare rituals (herbal remedies etc.) (Purnell, 2005). Most of the people at the center are under the care of at least one health care practitioner, and most have several people attending to their various health problems. Most of the people rely for the greater part on Western medicine for their major medical needs, but some use herbal remedies, traditional Chinese medicine, and other ethnic remedies as well.
2. Physical Environment (Anderson and McFarlane, 2003, Ch. 10)
The people in this group all attend a day care center in the inner city where they are provided with their midday meal, and spend the day together engaged in therapeutic activities which keep them mobile and active and as independent as possible. They play games together, trips are arranged to local points of interest, and outings to the movies and theater matinees are arranged. Attendance at the center is voluntary, and most people in the group meet there every day. There is one large room for communal activities and several smaller rooms for small group activities, and offices for consultations. The center has one nurse on staff and two nursing aides to take care of the medical needs of the group, and has a cook and two full-time staff and several volunteers who run the day-to-day activities of the center and its programs, and assist with the needs of the group. Between 75 and 100 people attend the center daily between 8am and 6pm.
The group receives occasional lectures on such subjects as nutritional, heal...