Cultural Diversity In Health Care
Culture has been defined in many different ways, yet it remains hard to describe. A basic definition of culture could be the music, language, economy, fashion, religion, and art of a community. More thorough analysis reveals, however, that although culture encompasses those phenomena, it also includes intangibles that are even more subtle and sometimes abstract. Culture is the shared symbols and meanings that people create in the process of social interaction, and orients people in their ways of feeling, thinking, and being in the world. Culture
Has been described as that which occupies the space between people in the world. Anthropologist Renato Rosaldo explains that Culture lends significance to human experience by selecting from and organizing …show more content…
it. It refers broadly to the forms through which people make sense of their lives, rather than more narrowly to the opera or art museums. All human conduct is culturally mediated. Culture encompasses the every day and the esoteric, the mundane and the elevated, the ridiculous and the sublime. Neither high nor low, culture is all-pervasive.
Culture includes language, religion, occupation, economics, art, politics, and philosophy. It affects practices of individuals, families, and institutions. Culture is how people approach the world. One difficulty in discussing culture, though, is that because of its nature, people often fail to recognizeits influence on themselves. Culture exist in the heads of human actors who are so thoroughly soaked in culture that it ceases to be something they notice. Nurses and other human service professionals have come to realize what anthropologists have long known, that culture affects how people view health, illness, treatment, regaining and maintaining health, as well as death and dying. For these reasons, culture has become a major nursing concern. It is a fundamental and important issue in evidenced-based practice in community settings.
Culture also values define roles and human interactions within families and communities and with others.
Culture determines values and behaviors, but other factors within a culture influence behavior patterns as well. These include age, gender, education, occupation, residence, level of acculturation, social class, life experiences, individually held beliefs, and practices including religious. Knowledge about cultures and its impact on interactions with health care is essential for nurses, whether they are practicing in a clinical setting, education, research, or administration. Cultural diversity addresses racial and ethnic differences; however, these concepts or features of the human experience are not synonymous. It is critical that nurses understand that culture is neither static nor deterministic. That is, just because a client is Chinese, Sioux, Amish or Romanian, that person does not necessarily act or believe like most people from the same culture. Moreover, an individual’s culture does not necessarily have the same importance to that person at all times or in every situation. Rather than assuming anything, communicate a recognition that people live their ethnicity differently, that the …show more content…
experience of ethnicity is complicated but important, and that it bears significance in the healthcare setting.
Cultural safety refers to providing culturally appropriate health services to disadvantaged groups while stressing dignity and avoiding institutional racism, assimilation, and repressive practices. For the community health nurse, this means ongoing learning about the health beliefs and practices of their clients and never dismissing or disrespecting folk traditions. For instance, communities in the United States that use healing practices of Vodou or (Voodo), a Haitian religion, often feel that they have to hide their practices because the dominant society considers the religion unacceptable or even evil. A nurse who is not familiar with these practices might at first be shocked or scared by Vodou, but providing culturally safe care means that he or she would need to analyze those feelings and instead approach Vodou with respect and openness, encouraging clients to use Vodou if they see it as beneficial.
Ethnocentrism refers to two related phenomena. First, ethnocentrism means the tendency of people to assume that everyone else thinks the same way they do and has the same
World view logic and culture. For instance, A family that eats a big Christmas dinner of a ham and sweet potatoes in the afternoon of Christmas day might assume that everyone celebrates the Christmas holiday that Ethnocentrism refers to two related phenomena. First, ethnocentrism means the tendency of people to assume that everyone else thinks the same way they do and has the same worldview, logic, and culture.
A subculture may be large or small, clustered together or scattered, but its members share some cultural facets such as experience, belief, language (or lingo), practices, and
values.
Subcultures might be grouped by their occupation, age group, sexual orientation, avocation, socioeconomic status, region, or some other characteristic the individuals share. It is reasonable to assume that construction workers from Tampa to Seattle share some experiences, language, and practices. Similarly, motorcycle enthusiasts have interests and knowledge in common that make them a subcultural group, as are nurses, skiers, lesbians, cancer survivors, and café owners. A subculture may be large or small, clustered together or scattered, but its members share some cultural facets such as experience, belief, language (or lingo), practices, and values.
Race can also be thought of as a subculture because people of the same race often share experiences, such as how they are treated by and reflected in a larger society. What is important to understand is that race is a social construct, not a biological entity. Genetic sciences have shown that there is much more variation within traditional racial categories (black, white, Hispanic) than there is between them. Racism is certainly a reality and can have devastating effects on health, but race itself is based on social ideas and not on biological determinants. Indeed, there are significant health disparities among races in the United States (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2005). It is important to know that although a nurse may use a client’s appearance to consider what diseases he or she may be susceptible to, appearance may not be a good indicator of genetic propensity, and there are many more factors that are probably more predictive of risk than what apparent race a client might belong to. Similarly, a person’s eye shape, skin tone, or hair texture does not tell very much about that person’s cultural practices or lifestyle and not even a great deal about his or her genes.
Has been described as that which occupies the space between people in the world. Anthropologist Renato Rosaldo explains that Culture lends significance to human experience by selecting from and organizing …show more content…
it. It refers broadly to the forms through which people make sense of their lives, rather than more narrowly to the opera or art museums. All human conduct is culturally mediated. Culture encompasses the every day and the esoteric, the mundane and the elevated, the ridiculous and the sublime. Neither high nor low, culture is all-pervasive.
Culture includes language, religion, occupation, economics, art, politics, and philosophy. It affects practices of individuals, families, and institutions. Culture is how people approach the world. One difficulty in discussing culture, though, is that because of its nature, people often fail to recognizeits influence on themselves. Culture exist in the heads of human actors who are so thoroughly soaked in culture that it ceases to be something they notice. Nurses and other human service professionals have come to realize what anthropologists have long known, that culture affects how people view health, illness, treatment, regaining and maintaining health, as well as death and dying. For these reasons, culture has become a major nursing concern. It is a fundamental and important issue in evidenced-based practice in community settings.
Culture also values define roles and human interactions within families and communities and with others.
Culture determines values and behaviors, but other factors within a culture influence behavior patterns as well. These include age, gender, education, occupation, residence, level of acculturation, social class, life experiences, individually held beliefs, and practices including religious. Knowledge about cultures and its impact on interactions with health care is essential for nurses, whether they are practicing in a clinical setting, education, research, or administration. Cultural diversity addresses racial and ethnic differences; however, these concepts or features of the human experience are not synonymous. It is critical that nurses understand that culture is neither static nor deterministic. That is, just because a client is Chinese, Sioux, Amish or Romanian, that person does not necessarily act or believe like most people from the same culture. Moreover, an individual’s culture does not necessarily have the same importance to that person at all times or in every situation. Rather than assuming anything, communicate a recognition that people live their ethnicity differently, that the …show more content…
experience of ethnicity is complicated but important, and that it bears significance in the healthcare setting.
Cultural safety refers to providing culturally appropriate health services to disadvantaged groups while stressing dignity and avoiding institutional racism, assimilation, and repressive practices. For the community health nurse, this means ongoing learning about the health beliefs and practices of their clients and never dismissing or disrespecting folk traditions. For instance, communities in the United States that use healing practices of Vodou or (Voodo), a Haitian religion, often feel that they have to hide their practices because the dominant society considers the religion unacceptable or even evil. A nurse who is not familiar with these practices might at first be shocked or scared by Vodou, but providing culturally safe care means that he or she would need to analyze those feelings and instead approach Vodou with respect and openness, encouraging clients to use Vodou if they see it as beneficial.
Ethnocentrism refers to two related phenomena. First, ethnocentrism means the tendency of people to assume that everyone else thinks the same way they do and has the same
World view logic and culture. For instance, A family that eats a big Christmas dinner of a ham and sweet potatoes in the afternoon of Christmas day might assume that everyone celebrates the Christmas holiday that Ethnocentrism refers to two related phenomena. First, ethnocentrism means the tendency of people to assume that everyone else thinks the same way they do and has the same worldview, logic, and culture.
A subculture may be large or small, clustered together or scattered, but its members share some cultural facets such as experience, belief, language (or lingo), practices, and
values.
Subcultures might be grouped by their occupation, age group, sexual orientation, avocation, socioeconomic status, region, or some other characteristic the individuals share. It is reasonable to assume that construction workers from Tampa to Seattle share some experiences, language, and practices. Similarly, motorcycle enthusiasts have interests and knowledge in common that make them a subcultural group, as are nurses, skiers, lesbians, cancer survivors, and café owners. A subculture may be large or small, clustered together or scattered, but its members share some cultural facets such as experience, belief, language (or lingo), practices, and values.
Race can also be thought of as a subculture because people of the same race often share experiences, such as how they are treated by and reflected in a larger society. What is important to understand is that race is a social construct, not a biological entity. Genetic sciences have shown that there is much more variation within traditional racial categories (black, white, Hispanic) than there is between them. Racism is certainly a reality and can have devastating effects on health, but race itself is based on social ideas and not on biological determinants. Indeed, there are significant health disparities among races in the United States (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2005). It is important to know that although a nurse may use a client’s appearance to consider what diseases he or she may be susceptible to, appearance may not be a good indicator of genetic propensity, and there are many more factors that are probably more predictive of risk than what apparent race a client might belong to. Similarly, a person’s eye shape, skin tone, or hair texture does not tell very much about that person’s cultural practices or lifestyle and not even a great deal about his or her genes.