Summary: How Culture Impacts Care

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How Culture Impacts Care The perception of illness dictates the way in which medical treatment, or lack thereof, is approached. Modern medicine has introduced a myriad of scientific technologies intended to advance our understanding and treatment of the human body. Although many of these breakthroughs have resulted in life saving forms of care, there is still a substantial disconnect that exists between science and culture within the medical realm. Physicians have an unprecedented number of tools at their disposal, none of which help in minimizing cultural barriers. Value systems, beliefs, religion, and spirituality are woven into the fabric of humanity. These factors can have just as significant of an impact on healthcare as blood pressure, …show more content…

According to Balboni, Puchalski, and Peteet (2014), the term “cure has a mostly disease based focus, healing refers to the whole person and to how that person finds peace, a sense of coherence, solace, and meaning especially when dealing with serious or life threatening loss or disease” (p. 1589). The purpose of having psychological and religious specialists available either in-house or on an on-call basis is to strengthen the clinical focus on healing. Patients suffering from a chronic illness, for example, might benefit more from this type of attention. During times of sickness, the value of having support from a religious or faith-based community is …show more content…

The book is based on the true story of a young Hmong girl living in Merced, California and suffering from a severe form of epilepsy. The basis of her struggle lies in the Hmong culture’s interpretation of epilepsy. In their language, the word for epilepsy is qaug dab peg, which literally translates to "the spirit catches you and you fall down." Seizures are perceived as spiritual journeys and epileptics are considered to be shamans. Thus, the young girl’s family views their daughter’s condition as a gift that makes her special, as opposed to an illness requiring medication. At one point in the novel, social services even takes the girl away from her family because they aren’t following her strict schedule of medications, mostly out of

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