Therapy Cultural Issues and Clinical

Therapy

Cultural Issues and Clinical Teaching

Most people become very nervous when they are in need of health care, but for those who are not familiar with the way things happen in hospitals, or do not speak the same language as those trying to care for them; it can be a bewildering and frightening time. A person may feel very isolated and misunderstood (Information on Cultural differences of patients, n.d.). Some of the obvious differences that can occur between a health care provider and a patient include: religion, ethnicity or race, national origin or language and gender. Some of the not so obvious differences include: age, education, educational status and mobility including handicaps (Cultural Diversity and Health Care, n.d.).

A good example of a cultural difference that might occur between a patient and a doctor could be the idea of whether to use holistic medicine practices or not. A patient may believe in the use of vitamins and other holistic practices in order to treat themselves but the doctor may not agree with this. The patient at this point would feel that they were placed in a very awkward position. Do they follow what they believe in or do they follow the advice of the doctor?

We all come from the same race, the human race, and we all have similar basic human needs. The goal in providing culturally receptive care is to find common ground. A good process to follow includes listening, explaining, acknowledging, recommending and negotiating. A health care provider must first listen to the patient's perception of the problem. This listening must be done in a non-judgmental manner, using encouraging comments. The second step is for the provider to explain their perception of the problem. The next key step is for the provider to acknowledge not only the differences between the two perceptions of the problem, but to acknowledge the similarities. In developing a culturally responsive approach to care, the provider must recognize differences, but build upon the similarities. The fourth step is to make suggestions which involve the patient. Finally, the provider needs to negotiate a treatment plan, considering that it is beneficial to incorporate selected aspects of the patient's culture into the plan (Campinha-Bacote, Josepha, (2003).

In order to meet the needs of culturally diverse groups, health care providers must engage in the process of becoming culturally competent. Cultural ability is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or amongst professionals and enables that system, agency or those professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. The idea of competence is used because it entails having the capacity to function effectively (Campinha-Bacote, Josepha, (2003).

It is very important for health care providers to be aware of the differences that exist between themselves and their patients. In order for the physician to be successful they have to be able to treat each patient as an individual. Each patient is different on many levels and each of these needs to be taken into account as a diagnosis and treatment plan in put into place. Health care providers need to be culturally aware and sensitive so that the patient feels comfortable in telling them everything that they need to know to treat them.