Section I: Definition of Community
A community is simply defined as a social unit, however, it entails much more than just a social unit as it has been thought. Furthermore, a community is thought to be of varied sizes; a conventional size of a community has never been formed, nonetheless, it would be a much difficult task than imagined. However, a community is a social class that share given common values and is basically placed in a particular locality. A living unit of a community can be a village, clan or even a town. More often than not, people living in a community is a group of people or persons linked by tight and much durable relations.
Studies have revealed that communities has a tendency to extend; they usually extend beyond the obvious extent; it goes beyond the most and widely expected genealogical ties. Basically, as per the genealogical ties, community members usually define the relationship or ties as being more important to their practice and social identity (In Stanhope, & In Lancaster, 2014). Over the past years, communities have been known to be much smaller in terms of geographical size and population, however, it can also refer to relatively larger groups like the virtual communities or online communities; both national and international communities fall in this category too.
However, human communities are known to be more unique, they may share beliefs, intents, preferences, needs, resources and risks; due to these sharing, a community is thought to be unique, unique in terms of bonding and purpose. Nonetheless, the things that communities share are the very things that affect their day to day lives, therefore it becomes their source of identity and therefore tighten their degree of cohesiveness.
The Maya people is a good example of a community in South America. They are sometimes referred to as the Mesoamerica, consequently they are united by just speaking a common language; the Mayan language. While trying to analyze communities across the World, the case of the Mayan people has been a critical tool for several studies, this is so, die to its rich culture and unquestioned uniqueness (Hammond, 2001). The Mayan people have been predominantly been referred to as the Mayan people of Guatemala, however, they do not only occupy the Republic of Guatemala but also other neighboring countries. The Mayan language is something which has greatly evolved leaving little or no traces of the original language spoken by the original Mayas, however, the language still remain a major uniting factor within the Mayan communities within and outside Guatemala.
Today, each and every group comprising the Mayan community have their own version of the Mayan language, quite fascinating though it has some little relativity. The Mayan people are the most cultural community in southern America, they still cling on to their indigenous lifestyle. However, over the recent years, the Mayan people are quietly adopting the modern lifestyle and steadily starting to embrace modern life.
The history of the Mayan people is quite rich as it describes a community that has been in existent since time immemorial; it has weathered all storms of racial assimilation and civilization and remains steadfast to date. The population of the Mayan people is relatively big as they occupy most mountainous regions of the Republic of Guatemala. However much the immigrant communities have tried to erode the rich cultures of the People of Guatemala, its evidences are still noticeable.
The primary aim of this study is to analyze the various aspects of the Mayan community and give a vivid analysis of the same. The population is quite unique and therefore a thorough study is required to reveal all its elements. The Mayan community is a community that faces challenges in terms of their social life including medical care (Thornicroft, 2011). However, there are some underlying issues that inhibit them from using the modern health facilities. The have variety of treatment options; the modern healthcare and the traditional healers, however, most of them opt for traditional healing
Section II: Assessment
Studies carried out in the past have continually revealed the above enlisted aspects about the Mayan communities spread all over South America. These aspects prove to be true and reflects the actual ground in the remote villages of the Mayan people.
Healthcare is a challenging issue in social set up belonging to the Mayan people. There are several reasons as to why healthcare still pose a major challenge to the Mayan people. These conditions are largely physical with a small majority being cultural.
Biostatistics of the Mayan People
The Indigenous people of the Republic of Guatemala are the Maya people, however, the Republic has other immigrants who settled in the country who are also counted as the people of Guatemala. The Maya people form the largest ethnic group with a total of 41% dominance. According to the 2014 census, the total population of the Republic of Guatemala was at 15,806,675, out of which 41% are the Mayas, which is approximately 6,488,737 people.
They form a bigger part of the total population of the Republic of Guatemala. The ratio of men to women is almost 1:1, the sexes of the Mayan people is uniformly distributed; there is no evident disparity, however, the number of children is much higher than that of adults. The Mayan people have not yet adopted the modern family planning methods therefore the level of giving birth is quite high. The average number of children for a single Mayan woman is at the average of 6 children.
Section III: Analysis and Diagnosis of Problems and Assets
Community Identified Health Needs and Assets.
An interview with three local leaders revealed that the Mayan people had a lot of needs as far as health is concerned. Their needs were quite high and were to be in line with their requirements.
First, the local Mayan leaders revealed that Hospitals were built far away from the Mayas, this was also a major reason why they opt for traditional healing. The other reason was quite political; the dominant Mestizo community looked down upon the Mayan people, they were subjected to poor and unreasonable services at these hospitals (Bhatt, 2008).
However, the local leaders revealed that the ability to seek modern healthcare among the Mayas was greatly affected by their cultural and traditional beliefs. They later discredited the western medicine, to them, the western medication had its own disadvantages just like the traditional ones; just like the traditional medicine being used by the Mayan people; it was not any superior
They had their own disadvantages that ought to be fully acknowledged; they are much expensive and are not available locally. However, when dealing with a culturally sensitive group like the Mayan people, treatment should be made culturally sensitive too; they should conform to the cultures of the land (Dever, 2001). For the Mayan people to fully embrace the Western medicine, these medications should be cheaper and locally available.
However, they had several medical assets at their dispensation. There is a wide pool of knowledge readily available for their use. The immigrants, some of which are the Spanish, have vast medical knowledge that when put into use can avail a wide pool of medical knowledge. Furthermore, the government of the Republic of Guatemala has the ability to vail medical services to the Mayan people.
Problem or Asset Identification/Community Diagnosis
The major problems identified through the interview can be remedied through various well thought means, however, they cannot be very easy to solve when proper mitigation measures are not adequately developed and put in place. For the reasons of hospitals being far away from the Mayan people, the local community through their leaders should as for donor funding from their governments, governments of other countries and Non-Governmental Organizations. Furthermore, proper sensitization should be done by elite community members for the traditional and more cultural members to embrace modern medication (Cowley, 2008).
References
Bhatt S., (2008). Health Care Issues Facing the Mayan People on Guatemalan Highlands. The Current State of Care and Recommendation for Improvement. Journal of Global Health Perspectives
Cowley, S. (2008). Community public health in policy and practice: A sourcebook. Edinburgh: Elsevier/Baillière Tindall.
Dever, G. E. A. (2001). Community health analysis: Global awareness at the local level. Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen Publishers.
Gislason, M. K. (2013). Ecological health. Bingley, U.K: Emerald.
Hammond, N. (2001). Cuello: An early Maya community in Belize. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press.
In Stanhope, M., & In Lancaster, J. (2014). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community.
Thornicroft, G. (2011). Global mental health: Putting community care into practice. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.
