Health Care and Culture Essays

Health Care and Culture Essays Health Care and Culture Paper Health Care and Culture Paper Culture is an important ingredient in the mode of life of any group, be they ethnic or modern sub-cultures. In addition, culture is a very pervasive matter and that is why it also has an important impact in health care delivery. Moreover, there are some societies that are sensitive when it comes to their culture. This is the reason is why, it is necessary to tread around carefully so as not to give offense to the culture. Otherwise health care delivery will not only be seen as negative, the persons delivering the health care will also be considered as outsiders in the culture and thus, will make it harder for them to penetrate into the community. But what is culture? According to Hoult (1969), culture refers broadly to the values, norms, institutions and artifacts that a particular society holds dear. This also includes the language, the manner of communications and the nature of social relationships in any given society. Because of the surge of immigration into the United States coupled with the trend of globalization, it has become important for people from various races and culture to coexist with each other. According to Larsen (2004, pp. 1-2), in 2003, 33. 5 million people in the United States were foreign born. This accounts for more than ten percent of the total population of the United States. Given this, there is a need for people, especially those that are engaged in the delivery of important services such as health care. Cultural Competence and Effective Communication The US Department of Health and Human Services (2003) identified the concept of cultural competence in dealing with the culture of people who are in need of important services, especially in disaster mental health programs. Cultural competence refers to the changes in the perceptions, attitudes and even the basic treatment of people in connection to various cultural groups. It is exemplified by sensitivity and awareness of differences yet granting respect to different groups. Furthermore, the Department’s publication highlighted the importance of the community in the lives of ethnic and cultural groups and this is the reason why in the occurrence of disasters, it is important to get through to the community and help them recover together. An awareness and sensitivity of culture is needed in this regard. Hence, â€Å"effective communication† cannot be discounted as an important factor in getting through to the members of the community (US DHHS, 2003). Effective communication would then mean taking into account the various cultural expressions of such groups and be sensitive to these expressions. Another important reason why communication is essential is that people from cultural groups tend to bring with them their own ideas about diseases, which may not be accurate scientifically. It falls upon the health care practitioner to communicate with these people the proper way of treating diseases with proper understanding and sensitivity (â€Å"Why Language and Culture†, 2003). Cultural Group and Health Service Needs The Hispanic Americans comprise the largest nonwhite ethnic group in the United States. The focus, however, is on the elderly members of this sub-population in the US. Hispanic Americans who are 65 years old and over make up 5. 6% of the total population of older Americans. These older Hispanics are faced with various health threats such as coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes among others. In terms of mental health, several studies have shown that there are symptoms of depression among older Hispanic women. As such, this group of people needs to have medical assistance. On the other hand, several cultural issues that need to be addressed include language, the family, as well as religion and spirituality and how this group defines illness (Talamantes, Lindeman, Mouton, 2003). Also, given the difficulty of some members of this population to speak English, it would be necessary for health workers to have a translator handy in order to translate for them and to watch out the cultural nuances that need to be taken care of. Bhui, et. al. (2007) discovered that although there have been several attempts to incorporate cultural competence in the delivery of health care services. They concluded, however, that much of these works have been exploratory and that the efficiency and effectiveness of training has not been fully established. As such further quantitative studies and more effective trainings are called for in the future. In addition to the delivery of health care services, it is also important for the members of this population to have access to medicines. In this regard, pharmacists should also have the necessary skills in promoting cultural competence and providing service to different clients regardless of their cultural backgrounds (O’Connell, et. al. , 2007) Conclusion The world is sinking, thanks to globalization. Increasingly the United States and other countries in the world are becoming multicultural and that people share and trade off stories. Yet, the process of integration is not as easy as it looks to be, especially in the area of language and in the overall dynamics of communications. This is the reason why in the delivery of service, those who administer them should be able to relate well with other people of different cultures. Through this way, they will be more effective in communicating and in getting their points across to those who need medical help. Reference Bhui, K. , Warfa, N. , Edonya, P. , McKenzie, K. , Bhugra, D. (2007). Cultural Competence in Mental Health Care: a Review of Model Evaluations. BMC Health Services Research, 7: 15. Retrieved 12 July 2007 from pubmedcentral. nih. gov/articlerender. fcgi? artid=1800843. Hoult, T. F. (Ed) (1969). Dictionary of Modern Sociology. Totowa, NJ: Littlefields, Adams. Larsen, L. J. (2004). The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2003. United States Census Bureau. Accessed 9 July 2007 from census. gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-551. pdf. O, Connell, M. B. , Korner, E. J. , Rickles, N. M. Sias, J. J. (2007). Cultural Competence in Health Care and Its Implications for Pharmacy Part 1: Overview of Key Contents in Multicultural Health Care. American College of Clinical Pharmacy, 27 (7), 1062-1079. Talamantes, M. , Lindeman, R. , Mouton, C. (2003). Ethnogeriatric Curriculum Module: Health and Health Care of Hispanic/Latino American Elders. Stanford University. Retrieved 12 July 2007 from stanford. edu/group/ethnoger/hispaniclatino. html. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2003) Developing Cultural Competence in Disaster Mental Health Programs: Guiding Principles and Recommendations. DHHS Pub. No. SMA 3828. Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Why Language and Culture Are Important. (2003). Diversity Rx. Retrieved 12 July 2007 from diversityrx. org/HTML/ESLANG. htm.