Health behaviours of the students of Vietnamese origin studying in Poland

Background. Living in the globalized world, where various cultures intermingle on a mass scale, makes it necessary that we consider (also in our professional lives) the possible difficulties of mutual acceptance of culturally diverse behaviours, including health behaviours. One must respect the differences between our and other people’s understanding of health and disease, experience of disease or response to therapy. One of the big immigrant groups in Poland are the Vietnamese, who are likely to use the services of health care facilities. Developing culturally consistent standards of care should begin with acquiring the knowledge of health behaviours of the representatives of various cultural spheres.

Aim of the study. The aim of the study was to learn the health behaviours of the Vietnamese students studying in Poland.

Material and methods. The study was conducted with the use of a diagnostic questionnaire and such research tools as: a questionnaire concerning health behaviour designed by the authors and the Self-Efficacy Scale (R. Schwarzer, M. Jerusalem). Thirty students of Vietnamese origin studying at the universities in Kraków took part in the study.

Results. The studied group prefer to spend their free time actively, and they largely base their diet on rice, chicken, vegetables and fruit. Most of the students surveyed regularly undergo medical check-ups. As for risky behaviours, the respondents revealed smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol and having casual sex. The study group was characterized by a high level of self-efficacy; that, however, did not significantly affect their health behaviours.

Conclusions. The study shows the prevalence of the health-promoting behaviours, as declared by the respondents from the group of Vietnamese students studying in Poland, over the risky health behaviours.