Week 3: Cultures in Health

The Cultural Health Equity Initiative

Objectives:

• Can define and explain what culture is
• Understand the influence of cultural beliefs in health
• Recognize the importance of being aware of different beliefs in the healthcare setting

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DRAW or WRITE:

When you hear “culture,” what comes to mind?

What is culture?

• Shared way of living + personal identity!

Important Parts of Culture

• Ethnicity: Like being part of a family or group with shared background
• Language: The words and language people use to talk
• Religion: The faith or beliefs people have, like Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism
• Age: Kids, adults, and grandparents might do things differently because of their culture

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Shared way of life?

It includes things like:

• Values
• Beliefs
• Customs
• Traditions
• Behaviors

Helps make one feel like they belong in a group

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Personal identity?

• Any way patients identify themselves
• Race, gender, SES, religion, skin color, age, education, body size, and so on.

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What do these aspects shape?

1. View on illness, healing, and the body

• One’s perspective on an illness
• What steps they will take to address it
• What is considered healthy

2. What types of healing practices are being used

Western Medicine Non-Western Medicine

Western vs. Non-Western/Traditional

• Common in U.S. and Europe vs. other parts of the world (Asia, Africa, indigenous communities, etc.)
• Relies on science, research, and testing vs. culture, experience, and spirit
• Focus on sickness/symptom vs. whole person—body, mind, and spirit
• Uses medicine, surgery, and machines vs. herbs, massage, energy healing

ACTIVITY: Cultural Health Collage

• Draw or write about any health traditions or practices you know of from different cultures!
• Think about how people stay healthy, treat illnesses, or take care of their bodies and minds

3. Where and how a patient seeks health

Where:

• Hospitals and clinics or healer and home remedies
• Some cultures value family care

How:

• May prefer a provider of the same gender, religion, or race for better trust
• A place that has treatments based on beliefs

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4. How diseases or conditions are viewed

• Different view on the causes
• In many cultures, some illnesses are stigmatized
• Cultural expectations

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What are some challenges to this?

Intrapersonal:

• Implicit bias
• Judgement of patient behavior

Interpersonal:

• Communication barriers
• Feeling misunderstood/dismissed

Hospital/Clinic:

• Unable to adapt to community needs (no resources or staff)

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How can learning and understanding about cultural practices and beliefs help when giving care?

• Improves patient understanding and communication
• Builds trust
• More personalized-care
• Improves health outcomes
• Addresses health disparities

How can providers better address these differences?

If you were a doctor, how would you make your patients feel understood? What steps will it take?

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Recall:

• What is culture?
• 4 ways culture influences health?
• Why is it important to address and understand the different beliefs when giving care?
• Some solutions?

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