Cultural Differences In Health And Social Care

an American Indian male with diabetes who receives care at a non-tribal clinic. He reports that he does not feel much of a connection with his provider or his clinic, and says that he feels misunderstood when he tells his provider about his traditional healing practices.  He struggles to remember to take his medications and sometimes does not take them because he feels that they don’t work.

Culture has more than one definition. It can be defined as the language spoken throughout a group of people or even the beliefs practiced. In the professional field of nursing, nurses are required to do more than administer medication or change bandages on a patient. To be able to fulfill a nurse’s job requirements, a nurse must learn to be culturally competent. Cultural competency in the professional field of nursing means to care and respect the patient whether or not the health care provider is in agreement with the patient’s decisions.

Social. People from different social backgrounds may communicate differently than what we are used to. While it is important to maintain a professional persona in our working lifeâ€TMs it is sometimes important to adjust our responses/answers to make others feel comfortable and confident with us.

Health care disparities in the United States occur on the provider level. The implicit biases providers are susceptible to help shape physician behavior and produce differences in medical treatment across a host of demographic characteristics but mainly along the lines of race and ethnicity. This paper focuses mainly on the relationship between providers and Black Americans. There is a complex and historical relationship between providers and Black Americans which dates back to the 16th century that is the basis for the biases physicians exhibit towards this particular minority group in today’s healthcare system. Contrary to popular belief, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in 1932 is not the forerunner to a host of medical abuses committed against

I enjoyed reading your insights on some of the cultural aspects that influence the healthcare perceptions of the Hispanic population. I also chose this ethnic group for my discussion so it was interesting to see the information that you found. For Ohio nurses, I think it’s essential to learn about these influences because statistics show that the Hispanic population is growing in every county except for one. Immigration is playing a part but the main increase is coming from the birth rate of children of first-generation immigrants. They are becoming adults and are having their own children, which is boosting the overall population.

There are many disparities in healthcare access, especially when it comes to clients living at or below the poverty level. Mauer and Smith (2013) suggested that community/public health nurses should know the concerns of the clients regarding accessibility or convenience, availability, and acceptability of healthcare services. Many factors such as economic status, educational levels, and employment steer health seeking behaviors and influence how the community/public health nurse can help.

The United Stated census data has projected that the U.S. population will not only grow in number but will also be considerably older by 2050. Among the elders, the Hispanic older population is expected to grow the fastest in numbers and the older generation would increase from 6% to 18% within the Hispanic group (4). With an increasing number of older people of Mexican origin, the healthcare providers and the health care system will need to develop their cultural competency abilities in order to be able to understand the challenges and barriers that they need to deal with that are due to cultural and traditional differences. The culture that a person has is made up of the beliefs, values, behavior, language, and customs that they share with

Overall, the health of Americans has improved over the past several decades. However, there is still an inconsistency between the health of various racial groups, minorities, and Caucasians (Cook, Kosoko-Lasaki, & O'Brien, R., 2005). Bakullari et al. (2014) report that specific research related to patient safety and racial and ethnic differences in HAIs is also lacking. As a result of these discrepancies, Bakullari et al. (2014) implemented a study to determine the rate and occurrence of HAIs in six specific racial/ethnic groups (white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and other). What they found was that Hispanic and Asian populations had a significantly higher occurrence of HAIs than white non-Hispanic populations (Bakullari et al., 2014).

Cultural competency is important when caring for patients whose culture is different than yours. A person’s background, upbringing, and set of beliefs shape the way they interact with healthcare personnel, guide the way they ask for and receive help, and play a role in their understanding and approach to their health. It is important to understand where the patient is coming from so that they can get the most out of their health care experience and ultimately have “improved health outcomes” (Brannon 2009, p. 4). This concept is especially important nowadays not only because the demographics of the United States is continually changing, but also due to the fact that these diverse groups tend to “maintain their cultural uniqueness” as opposed

Stage 4 focuses on the rationale for providing culturally competent health care to refugee's. Cultural competence relates to a set of behaviours or attitudes that enable the health care system to provide a high quality of equitable care to all groups within society (Germov, 2014). Based on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) a refugee is defined as someone who

Being cultural competent is essential for providers, even though it is not easy. A part of the Health People 2020 discussed cultural competence and health literacy under its goal to improve quality and outcomes of health care (Lie, Carter-Pokras, Braun, & Coleman, 2012). Cultural competence is the ability to provide patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, and to tailor the delivery of health care to meet the patient’s social, cultural, and linguistic needs (Gurm & Cheema, 2013). In order for providers to be culturally competent they should not be afraid to interact with a variety of questions and ask questions to better understand different cultures. They should be able to learn from their patients in order to provide better services. Cultural competent is achieved with time and with the willingness of learning and becoming aware of the difference in healthcare. Providers should not impose their cultural values on patients and instead respect the uniqueness of their patients (Hicks, 2012). Cultural competence may encourage patients to be more open and interact more with providers as well as reduce the fear from interacting with someone who is culturally different (Bates & Ahmed, 2017). When providers are

I hope that with my personal beliefs and culture that I will be able to give exceptional care to those whose cultures differ from my own. I am very much a people pleaser and I would try my best to keep everyone happy and comfortable. I think that this comes from my culture of being a millennial. While I am not necessarily knowledgeable about other culture’s practices, rituals, and beliefs, I would try my best to make sure that my patients were taken care of in a manner that protects their health and respects their culture, religion, or race.

The absence or presence or social equity is a relevant fact that can interfere on social, behavioral and cultural determinants that impact the public health. Usually, people that are part of groups with deficient access to social basic needs have more risk of suffering from conditions that can lead to diseases or premature death. The public health condition of a population is strongly associated with patterns of inequality in society.

The three concepts from the reading that may influence in the health care field are: Ethno relative mindset, Knowledge, and to understand the culture as an iceberg. Ethno relative mindset is important because you understand the person’s behavior from his/ her cultural frame of reference. In the health care field intercultural communication needs to be flexible and knowledge about people’s culture. Become self-aware of their beliefs, values and personal biases can help me to get along better with others. My culture is deep level because we believe in traditions, beliefs, and values and it would influence in my work because I would be able to engage in their cultural frame.

“Demographics of the US population have changed dramatically in the last three decades. These changes directly impact the healthcare industry in regard to the patients we serve and our workforce” (Borkowski, 2012). In fact, Voutsas (2011) argues that the U.S workforce is the most demographically heterogeneous workforce in the world and he believes that this is due to major changes and diversity .Borkowski (2012) also states that the significant changes in the US populations has been seen greatly in regards to gender, age ,and race and ethnicity .