Cultural Profile Resource: The Philippines A resource for aged care professionals Birgit Heaney Dip. 19/06/2016 A resource for aged care professionals Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Location and Demographic ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Everyday Life ............................................................................................................................................... ……………5 Gender Roles and Statuses ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Family ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Personal Hygiene .............................................................................................................................................................. 8 Leisure and Recreation ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Religion ........................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Food and Diet ................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Health .............................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Death and Dying ............................................................................................................................................................. 13 Language ......................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Cue Cards ........................................................................................................................................................................ 14 Disclaimer ....................................................................................................................................................................... 15 References ....................................................................................................................................................................... 15 2 A resource for aged care professionals The Philippines Culture Profile Introduction This profile of The Philippines cultural community is just one of the many projects undertaken by Quality Aging. This project aims to provide relevant information for community groups and residential aged care providers to implement “best practice” strategies of care for the older individuals from diverse backgrounds. This project is about ensuring the needs of older persons from a Filipino cultural background are met. Population trends within Australia are increasingly characterized by a diversity of people, languages and culture. Together with this trend is an aging population, also with a rich diversity of languages and cultures. Not surprisingly then, that residential aged care providers are faced with growing demands for culturally responsive facilities and care. This profile aims to create a tool to provide aged care providers with An awareness of the cultural and linguistically diverse needs of older persons from a Filipino background. It also strives to enable the professional capability and progress of staff in the provision of culturally inclusive care; and The organisation’s compliance with the Residential Care Standards and National Care Standards as they pertain to the issue of cultural and linguistic needs. The profile provides beneficial information about a variety of subjects and resources. This is a guide only and is not intended to replace one stereotype of this culture with another; it is only intended to provide some insight into the culture. Nor does it reduce the importance of you establishing the individual cultural needs of each person as part of your care planning process. In an effort to continue to provide you with updated information of this profile and improve its contents, we encourage readers to provide feedback by contacting Quality Aging at [email protected] 3 A resource for aged care professionals Location and Demographic The Republic of the Philippines, a nation of 7,107 islands with a total area of 111,830 square miles (307,055 square kilometers), is located on the Pacific Rim of Southeast Asia. Two thousand of its islands are inhabited. Luzon, the largest island with one-third of the land and half the population, is in the north. Mindanao, the second largest island, is in the south. The Philippines are 1,152 miles (1,854 kilometers) long from north to south. The width is 688 miles (1,107 kilometers). There are no land boundaries; the country is bordered on the west by the South China Sea, on the east by the Philippine Sea, on the south by the Celebes Sea, and on the north by the Luzon Strait, which separates the country from its nearest neighbour, Taiwan. The closest nations to the south are Malaysia and Indonesia. Vietnam and China are the nearest neighbours on the mainland of Asia. The islands are volcanic in origin. Mount Mayon in southern Luzon erupted in 2000. Mount Pinatubo in central Luzon erupted in 1991 and 1992. Both eruptions caused destruction of villages and farms and displaced thousands of people from their tribal homelands. Because the country is volcanic, the small islands have a mountainous center with coastal plains. Luzon has a broad central valley in the Northern provinces along the Cagayan River and plains in the midlands near Manila, the capital. Mindanao and Panay also have central plains. Northern Luzon has two major mountain ranges: the Sierra Madres on the eastern coast and the Cordilleras in the center. The highest peak is Mount Apo in Mindanao at 9,689 feet (2,954 meters). The weather is hot because of the country's closeness to the equator. The temperatures are constant except during typhoons. The dry season is from January to June; the wet season with monsoon rains is from July to December. Temperatures are cooler in November through January, dropping below 30 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit). The summer months of April and May have temperatures in excess of 39 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). Typhoons occur from June through November. 4 A resource for aged care professionals Everyday Life Life in the Philippines generally revolves around the extended family, including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins (up to several times removed), and other relatives. For Catholic families, godparents—those to whom care of children is entrusted should the parents die or otherwise be incapacitated—also figure prominently in the kinship network. Members of extended families typically gather for major life events such as baptisms and confirmations (for Catholic Filipinos), circumcisions (for Muslim Filipinos), and marriages, as well as for major religious and other national holidays. Etiquette People believe that it is one's duty to keep things operating smoothly. It is very important not to lose face. Being corrected or correcting another person in public is not considered acceptable behaviour. People want to grant all requests, and so they often say yes when they mean no or maybe. Others understand when the request is not fulfilled because saying no might have caused the individual to lose face. When one is asked to join a family for a meal, the offer must be refused. If the invitation is extended a second time, it is permissible to accept. Time consciousness and time management are not important considerations. A planned meeting may take place later, much later, or never. Filipinos walk hand in hand or arm in arm with relatives and friends of either sex as a sign of affection or friendship. Women are expected not to cross their legs or drink alcohol in public. Shorts are not common wear for women. People pride themselves on hospitality. They readily go out of their way to help visitors or take them to their destination. It is of the highest importance to recognize the positions of others and use full titles and full names when introducing or referring to people. Non-verbal language, such as pointing to an object with one's lips, is a key element in communication. One greets friends by lifting the eyebrows. A longer lift can be used to ask a question 5 A resource for aged care professionals Gender Roles and Statuses Division of Labor by Gender Traditional roles prevail in rural areas, where men cultivate the land but the entire family is involved in planting and harvesting the crops. Women work in gardens and care for the house and children as well as barnyard animals. In urban areas, men work in construction and machine upkeep and as drivers of passenger vehicles. Women work as teachers, clerks, owners of sari-sari stores, marketers of produce and health care providers. Occupational gender lines are blurred since men also work as nurses and teachers.