Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Cultural diversity in healthcare
Cultural considerations in healthcare
Cultural considerations in healthcare
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Cultural diversity in healthcare
Every culture has its own views of health care, diseases, and medical interventions. The way people of a given culture view health care affects how they handle themselves when they fall ill. For instance, the Asian culture believes that illnesses are caused by supernatural phenomena, which should be diagnosed and treated by means of spiritual healing or traditional herbs. Physicians and other medical practitioners should try to understand the cultural beliefs of their patients to handle them appropriately.
Heredity, culture, and environment can have a significant impact on the way a patient behaves in the doctor’s office or at the hospital. Heredity refers to the way particular traits are passed from parents to their children through the genes that the latter inherit from the former. It has been proven that some diseases such as cancer and diabetes can be inherited through gene composition. Some societies believe that inherited diseases cannot be treated in hospitals, a belief that affects the degree of their compliance with the required medical interventions (Galanti, 2008).
Culture, just like heredity, can also affect the way a patient behaves in a medical office. Various cultures have different perspectives on what causes illness and how the sick should go about the treatment process. For instance, Asians believe that illnesses stem from some supernatural phenomena and only prayers or other mystical interventions can cure them. Consequently, a patient from the Asian culture is unlikely to comply with medical treatment involving modern drugs and technologies.
The environment where an individual lives can also affect his behavior when he goes to seek health care services. There are some societies where people do not believe in ...
... middle of paper ...
...o should be involved in the treatment process. Western cultures such as those in the United States and the United Kingdom, which believe illnesses are caused by natural and scientific phenomena, promote the use of specialized medical interventions and advanced therapeutic technology to diagnose and treat diseases. Other cultures such as the Asians believe illnesses are caused by supernatural phenomena and advocate for spiritual interventions as one of the ways of treating sicknesses. This paper describes how culture can influence health beliefs and patient compliance by focusing on the Asian culture.
Works Cited
Galanti, G. (2008). Caring for patients from different cultures. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Muto, T., Nakahara, T., & Nam, E. W. (2010). Asian perspectives and evidence on health promotion and education. New York, NY: Springer.
Jean Giddens (2013) defines culture as “a pattern of shared attitudes, beliefs, self-definitions, norms, roles, and values that can occur among those who speak a particular language, or live in a defined geographical region.” (Giddens, 2013). A person’s culture influences every aspect that person’s life. Beliefs affected by culture include how someone interacts within the family, how to raise children, the types of foods eaten, the style of clothes chosen, which religion is practiced, and the style of communication (including verbal, and body language, slang used etc.) (Giddens, 2013). In addition to these beliefs, health care practices are also affected by culture. The cause
These differences in origin accounts for diversity in socio-cultural backgrounds and nurses must develop the knowledge and the skills to engage patients from different cultures and to understand the beliefs and the values of those cultures (Jarvis, 2012). If healthcare professionals focus only on a narrowly defined biomedical approach to the treatment of disease, they will often misunderstand their patients, miss valuable diagnostic cues, and experience higher rates of patient noncompliance with therapies. Thus, it is important for a nurse to know what sociocultural background a patient is coming from in order to deliver safe an effective
In the article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” By Horace Miner, there are a few points that he is trying to put across. Firstly, it is sometimes difficult to collect accurate information about a culture when you do not belong to it. Not everything will be explained in great detail, which forces a person to make assumptions about what they are being shown or what they are hearing. Secondly, Americans seem to always believe everything that they are told from doctors because they have been highly respected for many generations and people learn from when they are very young that when they are sick, they must go see the doctor to feel well again. Lastly, People always believe that they cannot heal without medicine because doctors have been making people believe that medicine is the key to healing for many years.
... cultural barriers to care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(1), 44-52. Retrieved from http://proxy.samuelmerritt.edu:2106/pmc/articles/PMC1494812/
Culture is one of the most respected pieces of a person’s life, as it leads and directs their every day living, but also how they view life as a whole picture. We all have the right to our own perspectives and beliefs. Attributing factors could be family upbringing, education, marrying of a spouse, or even worldly travels and experiences. Jarvis (2012), acknowledges that culture involves a persons beliefs, values, and thoughts while implementing their race, ethnicity, and religion. The ability to learn about ones culture, and accommodate them in times of illness and challenges, is a special characteristic. This is an attribute that many accomplished nurses have because of Madeleine Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality.
There are cultures that have very different views on things such as family dynamics and health care than what I’m used to. For example, there are some cultures that do not believe in seeking healthcare when they are ill or receiving medications or blood if needed. However, my family always believed in taking us to the doctor and taking medications when we were ill. There are also some cultures that have very large families that they are very close to however I always had a small close-knit family. I am able to see how these different scenarios could affect the nursing care provided by assuming that other people and families have the same beliefs that my family had growing up. However, this is why it is important to ask questions and do research about a particular culture before making assumptions. I also believe it is very important to avoid assuming that all cultures are the same just because they are of a certain culture or ethnicity. Beliefs and rituals can differ amongst people of the same community. Therefore, it is essential to get to know your patients and have an understanding of their beliefs as an
This includes their family, religion, race, ethnicity, and kinship. All of these play a role in the person’s cultural behavior. These are the things that are acquired or not genetically given. Communication refers to verbal and nonverbal forms of interacting. This includes spoken, written, gestures, body language, space, and facial expressions. The last aspect is environmental control. Understanding different cultures view on when they seek health care related to their environmental control is important. Different cultures seek health care based on their culture’s views of illness and disease, their medical practices, and their use of folk medicine (Giger,
Their culture is very different and many different social determinants of health affect their population. Their ethnocentric beliefs are so different compared to the western culture, not only in natural medicine and healing but also in terms of how evident that trust is a big issue, assimilation, health equity and substance abuse. It is very difficult to have them steer away from their beliefs and accept what a foreigner(western person) is saying to them. Due to all these problems, many health disparities exist in their population, all ranging from cultural beliefs in medicine, dancing, diet, individual behavior, the built environment and social connectedness.
Traditional Hmong’s believe in their Shaman rather than western doctors, they choose to detain their treatment by hosting their rituals to save them. A shaman is “a person who acts as intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic to cure illness, foretell the future, control spiritual forces, etc” (dictionary.com). Hmong individual’s have a belief that ancestral spirits, including the spirits of shamans, are reincarnated into the same family tree. Hmong consider being a shaman an honor because they carry the duty of helping mankind according to Hmong mythology. Differences between Hmong traditional beliefs and Western biomedical beliefs create a lack of understanding. Negative health care experiences result in Hmong community members’ mistrust and fear of Western medicine. However, when there’s mistrust between a doctor and a patient there could be lack of treatment because of the differences between our ...
Cultural blindness can lead to misconceptions and the inability to treat patients efficiently. Culture, religion, beliefs, values, social economic standings, education, mentality, morals, and treatment are all different from person to person, community, and groups. These barriers can be overcome by treating each patient as a unique individual and seeking to learn about cultural beliefs and differences, without reservations or pre-judgments but with an open and willing mind. These inhibiting barriers can be crossed through acceptance and commonality can be established. Through Patient-centered communication and attentiveness to the patients’ interpretation, discussion of lifestyle and treatment choices in an open and non-judgmental manner, and understanding of patient views, concerns and information needs can lead to cultural sensitivity and appreciation (Dean, R,
An individual’s culture and belief may significantly impact the type of services they require. In addition, it may affect the time, place, and method in the delivery of health care
Culture is a huge component of nursing care. Culture is defined as the “beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time” (Merrian-Webster, 2013). This means every patient has individualized beliefs on various matters. These can range from the best treatments for a disease process, to dietary needs, to even the people who are helping the patient in their time of need. These beliefs mold a patient’s outlook on life and well-being by contributing to their recovery.
Understanding cultural differences not only improves the effectiveness of the treatment the patient receives, it is also help the nurse to prevent negliency of care. It is impostant to maintain a curiosity about each patient no matter how much we know abouth that person's culture.
Certain religious groups reject westernized medicine, like the Amish. Yet, for the most part most religions allow their medicinal practices to work in tandem with westernized medicine. For example, First Nations people tend to have a very holistic view when it comes to their surroundings and medicine. Aboriginal traditional approaches to health and wellness include the use of sacred herbs like sage or tobacco and traditional healers/medicine (pg. 5, Singh, 2009). However, they will not reject help from professionally trained doctors and medical staff. Much like other religions, First Nations put a strong emphasis on family/community. Consensus or decision-making is fairly common for them. A practitioner or medical staff member must remember to respect ceremonial objects such as tobacco or traditional blankets, include immediate family members when making a treatment decision, and to accommodate spiritual practices. Normally, organ donation is accepted UNLESS the organ is being removed from someone who is not deceased. First Nations’ believe that their bo...
We need to be aware of the diversity in the classroom. Cultural diversity includes: bi-racial, adoptive, immigrant, gay, and step-families. It is a large majority of the students today even in my generation. Focusing on making a balanced curriculum that exposes the students to all of these different backgrounds is very important. I know that it is likely that a teacher will not be able to cater to every student, but it is important to involve each of them. There is a large percentage of students that have dropped out due to the lack of having a connection with the curriculum. It is frustrating that we are lacking progress in our schools to help these children connect when studies show that each cultural group will soon be equal in numbers. We need to form a better