Kontakt 2011, 13(3):275-286 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2011.033

Style of life of the Mongolian minority in the Czech RepublicNursing

Valérie Tóthová^1,*, Věra Veisová¹, Monika Jelečková², Helena Michálková¹, Lucie Rolantová¹

¹ Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra ošetřovatelství a porodní asistence

² Nemocnice Znojmo, a. s.; Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra ošetřovatelství a porodní asistence - doktorandka

The entry of the Czech Republic into the European Union, globalisation effects and associated reduction in distances and increase in the human population mobility - these are only examples of factors affecting the varying structure of the population in our country. It is no more just a transit country for migrants, but it also becomes a target country. The majority society ever more comes in contact with migrants, who are members of other nations and ethnic groups (Ivanová et al., 2005). This brings enhanced requirements not only for individuals but also for the whole society in terms of the multicultural understanding and tolerance. The public meets foreigners in common life and members of helping professions meet them in the course of their work. However, they encounter much higher requirements, since they must be able to provide services and care in a culturally appropriate manner. This becomes a considerable demand at the moment when a foreigner, member of some minority or subculture, gets ill and thus, it is necessary to provide him/her with culturally competent and a considerate nursing and medical care (Tóthová et al., 2010).
Numerous theoretical sources are already currently available, dealing with the specification of particular minorities, but sole theoretical knowledge is insufficient to provide the culturally competent nursing care. The skill in its application is necessary. Thus, grant IGA MZ NS/9606-3 "Providing culturally differentiated nursing care in selected minorities occurring in the Czech Republic" was established and implemented with the aim to perform mapping of specific features of selected minorities living in the Czech Republic in terms of theory and research. The scope of the communication presented here is to acquaint the reader with specific features of the style of life in one of the minorities chosen, the Mongolian minority.
A questionnaire method was employed for the data accumulation. The questionnaire comprised total of 140 items and, in addition to identification data, it consisted of three parts. The second part of the questionnaire was focused on the style of life. The sample group included total of 3 258 respondents, 564 inquired persons being members of the Mongolian minority. The results obviously show that about half the total number of respondents adhere to the healthy style of life: sleeping for 7-8 hours, sufficient intake of liquids, taking regular meals and more than half of the respondents are non-smokers.

Keywords: Mongols; multicultural nursing; style of life; minority group; nourishment; free time

Received: July 18, 2011; Accepted: September 6, 2011; Published: September 29, 2011  Show citation