The differences in cultures have a range of implications for mental health practice, ranging from the ways that people view health and illness, to treatment seeking patterns, the nature of the therapeutic relationship and issues of racism and discrimination.
Full Answer
How do cultural differences affect family health decisions?
As it turns out, cultural differences can also influence the way families make decisions about health care. All cultures have developed systems of beliefs to explain the cause of illness, how illness can be cured or treated, and who should be involved in the health care process.
How does culture impact the perception of and treatment for mental health?
It can sometimes be difficult or time-consuming to find resources and treatment options that take into account specific cultures factors and needs. These are only a few ways culture can impact the perception of and treatment for mental health. Every culture and person is different and face a unique journey to recovery.
What are the cultural influences on drug treatment?
Perhaps one of the most important cultural influences has to do with the way a patient responds physically to medication. Some people from backgrounds other than Caucasian may not metabolize the medication correctly, causing serious complications in treatment.
How does a patient’s cultural background affect health care?
A patient’s cultural background can have a profound impact on health care, and doctors need to be aware of this. More and more medical schools have integrated “cultural competency” into their curricula, reports the New York Times. Read on to find out more about how culture influences health beliefs, decision-making, and patient education.
How can cultural differences affect patient care?
Culture influences healthcare at all levels, including communications and interactions with doctors and nurses, health disparities, health care outcomes, and even the illness experience itself. People in some cultures believe illness is the will of a higher power, and may be more reluctant to receive health care.
How does culture affect access to healthcare?
The influence of culture on health is vast. It affects perceptions of health, illness and death, beliefs about causes of disease, approaches to health promotion, how illness and pain are experienced and expressed, where patients seek help, and the types of treatment patients prefer.
What are the cultural barriers for accessing health care?
These include family roles, body language, concept of justice, notions of modesty, core values, family values, beliefs and assumptions, rules of conduct, expectations, gestures, and childrearing practices, all of which have been shown to influence our perception and approaches to health and medicine.
How does social cultural environment affect health?
Cultural factors have a vast influence on health, especially among the lower social class. They affect their perceptions on various dimensions on health and dieses. They influence where they go when they are ill, types of healthcare and in fact types of treatment they seek.
What are cultural factors in health and social care?
Social and cultural factors, to include: • Culture, e.g. community involvement, religion, gender roles and expectations. social isolation • Personal relationships with friends and family.
How does culture affect nursing care?
Cultural competence helps the nurse to understand, communicate, and interact with people effectively. More specifically, it centers around: Understanding the relationship between nurses and patients. Acquiring knowledge of various cultural practices and views of the world.
How can cultural differences affect communication in health and social care?
Cultural diversity makes communication difficult as the mindset of people of different cultures are different, the language, signs and symbols are also different. Different cultures have different meaning of words, behaviors and gestures. Culture also gives rise to prejudices, ethnocentrism, manners and opinions.
What are social barriers in healthcare?
They include access to healthcare and education, the environment, economic opportunity, and social factors such as social support and discrimination. These social and economic barriers to health are closely linked to health inequalities, as well.
What are examples of cultural challenges in healthcare?
“These challenges are diverse and include insecurity to engage with patients, misunderstanding of patients, more directive communication, negative impacts on shared decision making, more time-consuming communication, perceived power distance between patients and physicians, etc.,” the researchers reported.
How does social factors affect health?
Social determinants of health such as poverty, unequal access to health care, lack of education, stigma, and racism are underlying, contributing factors of health inequities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is committed to achieving improvements in people's lives by reducing health inequities.
How does socio cultural aspect affect health population and environment?
Different aspects of health population and environment are interrelated with socio-cultural aspects. The customs, festivals, religious practices, food habits and way of living affect the health and environment. It is necessary to build up such tradition and culture not to affect the environment adversely.
How can an individual's social environment affect health and well being?
How can an individual's social environment affect health and well-being? It can directly and indirectly influence lifestyle. The effects can eliminate the risk of an individual becoming ill. The effects never accumulate across generations.
How does culture affect health care?
The Influence of Culture on Health Care Decisions. Culture plays a huge role in medical interactions. It influences how an individual might view an illness or treatment, for example, and affects how a physician should address an older patient. Culture may also affect the decision-making process. Cultural beliefs can affect how a patient will seek ...
Why do cultures have beliefs?
All cultures have developed systems of beliefs to explain the cause of illness, how illness can be cured or treated, and who should be involved in the health care process. In other words, every culture has beliefs about health, disease, treatment, and health care providers.
What is cultural compliance?
Cultural issues play a key role in compliance, which is a person’s willingness to adhere to the doctor’s recommendations. Culture influences healthcare at all levels, including communications and interactions with doctors and nurses, health disparities, health care outcomes, and even the illness experience itself.
Why is communication gap important for seniors?
The communication gap can prevent some seniors and families from getting the health information they need to make informed decisions. They may not know where to access information in another language, or they may not know how to find a health care provider that speaks the language.
What is informal caregiver?
Informal family caregivers are the norm, with older children and young adults providing age-related assistance to aging family matriarchs and patriarchs. In these family units, younger family members provide loving care that allows older adults to age within the home.
How does your community affect your health?
They can include things like your education level, your exposure to violence, the way your community is designed, and if you have access to health care. These factors affect your ability to take part in healthy behaviors, and this affects your health.
How does lower income affect health care?
Having a lower income also affects your ability to have affordable health insurance and health care. This can affect how often, if ever, you go to the doctor.
Why are people with higher incomes healthier?
People with higher incomes tend to be healthier and live longer than people with low incomes. They are more likely to live in safe neighborhoods. They have more access to grocery stores and healthy foods. They usually have more access to safe spaces for exercise or other activities.
How easy is it to access health care?
How easy it is for you to access health care is a big determinant of your health. If you have health insurance, you are more likely to visit your doctor on a regular basis. These trips can include screenings and preventive care that keep you from developing chronic disease. But not everyone has access to health insurance or easy access to care. Some people don’t have transportation to go to the doctor. Some can’t afford it, while others speak a different language. All of these things can prevent someone from getting the health care they need and delay treatment of preventable problems. Not being able to get health care can have a huge impact on your health.
How does living in a poor environment affect your health?
Where you live has a significant impact on your health. People who are continually exposed to poor living conditions have a higher risk of developing health problems. Conditions such as pests, mold, structural problems, and toxins in the home can all affect your health.
What are the factors that influence health?
There are many factors that influence our health. These are called determinants of health. One kind of determinant of health is what is in our genes and our biology. Another determinant is our individual behavior. This could include whether we smoke, exercise, or eat a balanced diet. Many people assume that their health is a result of their genes, their behaviors, and how often they get sick or go to the doctor. But it’s not just how you live that determines how healthy you are. Social and physical environments have a big impact on our health, too. These are called social determinants of health.
Why are people with low incomes more likely to live in poverty?
People with low incomes are more likely to live in a community of poverty. They are more likely to face situations that can lead to poor health.
Diversity in Addiction
Approximately one-third of the population of the United States belongs to an ethnic or racial minority group. Culture is a vital component of substance abuse treatment because the experiences people have related to their specific cultural heritage influence their clinical experience. 1
Signs and Symptoms of Addiction
Addiction is a disease that impacts everyone in unique ways. Although signs and symptoms of drug or alcohol addiction may differ from person to person, there are common indicators. Symptoms of drug or alcohol addiction are often behavioral, physical, and psychological.
What Is Cultural Competence?
Cultural competence is the ability of treatment centers to provide addiction treatment to patients with diverse beliefs, behaviors, and values. Cultural competence in treatment is essential.
How Can a Treatment Facility Be Culturally Competent?
For treatment centers to ensure cultural competence and cultural sensitivity, it is essential for staff to understand their patients.
Conclusion
A culturally competent addiction treatment center will consider the unique and specific needs of each person seeking treatment. Most importantly, they will remember that each patient is a person who, regardless of their cultural background or ethnicity, seeks help and potentially life-saving treatment.
What are some cultural influences?
In order to improve the care of patients in general, health care providers should be aware of the following cultural influences. 1. Family and Community. Everyone retains certain beliefs as a result of family and community influences, especially in other countries. For example, Asians and Pacific Islanders rely heavily on their extended family.
Why is culture important in healthcare?
Culture has a significant impact on both diagnoses and treatment options, primarily because of different social beliefs , but also because of biological factors. In order to improve the care of patients in general, health care providers should be aware of ...
Why do women request less invasive treatments?
Women, for example, may request less invasive treatments to make them more comfortable. Likewise, gender roles within relationships can often play a role in hindering treatment. One partner in the relationship may be dominant and believe it’s his/her job to make all of the decisions. 5.
What is more important than the interests of the individual?
Oftentimes, the honor and interests of the family are more important than the interests of the individual. Understanding situations like this when administering health care can be very helpful in providing proper treatment. 2. Religion. For the truly zealous, religion is not just a hobby.
Do Caucasian patients handle medications?
Caucasian patients generally tend to handle a wider variety of medications than those of other cultures do. Broaching these subjects with your patients may be uncomfortable to begin with, but it may be the thing that saves your patient’s life and your career.
How does cultural diversity affect mental health?
Cultural diversity across the world has significant impacts on the many aspects of mental health, ranging from the ways in which health and illness are perceived, health seeking behavior, attitudes of the consumer as well as the practitioners and mental health systems.
What are the differences in cultures?
The differences in cultures have a range of implications for mental health practice, ranging from the ways that people view health and illness, to treatment seeking patterns, the nature of the therapeutic relationship and issues of racism and discrimination.
What does Marsella argue for?
Marsella goes on to argue for mental health professionals who work across cultures to take up the roles of social activists and challenge some of the societal contexts that are impacting on their clients (2011) . This societal context also involves globalization and the rapid change of systems and cultures.
What does "society as a patient" mean?
Society as a patientis a term that Marsella (45) uses to point out that not all problems are located within the individual, and that the patient's well-being or lack thereof is often a product of the impacts of the external environment.
What is stigma in treatment seeking?
Stigmacan play a key role in terms of variations in treatment-seeking. Stigma can be viewed as a “mark of shame, disgrace or disapproval which results in an individual being rejected, discriminated against, and excluded from participating in a number of different areas of society” [(29), p. 16].
What is culture in the context of a tribe?
Culture is a broad and vexed term that can be defined in a range of ways, depending on the field of study and the perspective of the person using the term. As Tribe (1) argues, it is a multi-layered concept influenced by a range of issues such as gender, class, religion, language, and nationality, just to name a few.
Is it legal to reproduce a journal article in another forum?
The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice.
How does culture affect mental health?
Here are four ways culture can impact mental health: 1 Cultural stigma. Every culture has a different way of looking at mental health. For many, there is growing stigma around mental health, and mental health challenges are considered a weakness and something to hide. This can make it harder for those struggling to talk openly and ask for help. 2 Understanding symptoms. Culture can influence how people describe and feel about their symptoms. It can affect whether someone chooses to recognize and talk about only physical symptoms, only emotional symptoms or both. 3 Community Support. Cultural factors can determine how much support someone gets from their family and community when it comes to mental health. Because of existing stigma, minorities are sometimes left to find mental health treatment and support alone. 4 Resources. When looking for mental health treatment, you want to talk to someone who understands your specific experiences and concerns. It can sometimes be difficult or time-consuming to find resources and treatment options that take into account specific cultures factors and needs.
Why are minorities left out of mental health?
Because of existing stigma, minorities are sometimes left to find mental health treatment and support alone. Resources. When looking for mental health treatment, you want to talk to someone who understands your specific experiences and concerns.
How can we help the mental health of minorities?
You can help address the mental health of minorities by understanding the role culture plays in mental health and by becoming trained to help those around you . Mental Health First Aid gives people the skills to identify signs of mental health and substance use challenges and action steps to take to help them get treatment.
Do minorities get mental health care?
According to research published by The Commonwealth Fund, minorities in the United States are less likely to get mental health treatment or will wait until symptoms are severe before looking. In fact, only 66 percent of minority adults have a regular health care provider compared to 80 percent of white adults.
Is mental health a weakness?
Every culture has a different way of looking at mental health. For many, there is growing stigma around mental health, and mental health challenges are considered a weakness and something to hide. This can make it harder for those struggling to talk openly and ask for help. Understanding symptoms.
How does culture affect health?
Arthur Kleinman, professor of medical anthropology and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, in the New York Times article, “Bridging the Culture Gap.” “It affects health disparities, communication and interactions in the doctor-patient relationship, the illness experience, and health care outcomes.”
How to achieve cultural competency in medicine?
Awareness is the first step to achieving cultural competency in your practice. Doctors need to realize that they also bring their own cultural context to patient relationships, even if they don’t realize it. For example, in modern medicine, sometimes the focus can be more on the disease than the person with the illness.
