Echols-Armstrong Cultural Assessment Tool (EACAT) 1. ETHNIC GROUP AFFILIATION AND RACIAL BACKGROUND a. Would you tell me how long you have lived here in _____? b. Where are you from originally? (OR where were you born? Where were your parents or gparents born and raised?” c. With which particular ethnic group would you say you identify? d. Where have you lived and when? What health problems did you experience or were you exposed to when you lived in each place? What helped you recover from each of the health problems identified? 2. MAJOR BELIEFS AND VALUES a. What is your primary time orientation: past, present, future? - Basic nature of human beings - Purpose of life - Purpose of human relations - Relationship between human beings and nature b. Do you practice any special activities that are part of your cultural traditions? c. What are your values, beliefs, customs, and practices related to education, work, and leisure? 3. HEALTH BELIEFS AND PRACTICES a. What does being healthy mean to you? b. What do you believe promotes being healthy? c. Wht do you do to help you stay healthy? d. What does being ill or sick mean to you? e. What do you believe causes illness? What do you believe caused your illness? f. What do you usually do when you are sick or not feeling well? g. Who do you go to when you’re feeling ill? How are they helpful and for what type of problems? h. Who do you want to be with when you are sick? Who do you want to be with you in the hospital? i. Who in your family is primarily responsible for making health care decisions, who should be taught how to deal with your specific health problems? j. Are there any cultural or ethnic sanctions or restrictions that you want to or must observe? k. By whom do you prefer to have your health and medical care provided: a nurse, physician, or other healthcare provider? Do you prefer they have the same cultural background (or be the same age) or gender as your own? 4. LANGUAGE BARRIERS AND COMMUNICATION STYLES a. In which language are you most comfortable communicating? b. Do you need an interpreter when discussing health care information and treatments? c. Are there special ways of showing respect or disrespect in your culture? d. Are there any cultural preferences or restrictions related to touching, social distance, making eye contact, or other verbal or nonverbal behaviors when communicating? e. Are there culturally appropriate forms of greeting, parting, initiating, or terminating and exchange? 5. ROLE OF THE FAMILY, SPOUSAL RELATIONSHIP, AND PARENTING STYLES a. What is the composition of your family? Who is considered to be a member of your family? b. How does your family ethnic identity and ethnic traditions affect the decision-making process of your own family? How does their ethnic identity and which of their ethnic traditions do you think most affect their health status? c. Which of your relatives live nearby? With which of your family members and relatives do you interact the most often? d. What are the major events that are most important to your family and how are they celebrated? e. What are your family’s goals for the health and well-being of the family as a group? Do they work together as a unit to achieve these goals? Barriers? f. In what ways do your family members believe the nurse, physician, and other health care practitioners can help the family members achieve their goals for health and well-being of the family? g. With what social groups does your family interact, and what is the nature of their social contact and social support? h. Does your family practice special beliefs and customs related to marriage, conception, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, baptism, child care, puberty, separation, divorce, health, illness, and death? i. What are the family members’ health and social histories, including health habits, recent major stress events, work patterns, participation in religion, community activities, and recreation, patterns?