Cultural Perspectives on Health and Behavior

### Cultural & Diversity

• Culture impacts individuals' perspectives, behaviors, and views on health and illness.
• It Influences how people connect with others and organize communities.
• Most cultures contain subcultures.

Culture Includes

• Behavior - patterns and actions
• Religion - spiritual beliefs and practices
• Race - shared biological attributes, such as skin color
• Ethnicity - shared language, geographic origin, and cultural heritage
• Gender - social construct influencing roles and identities
• Ability - physical, mental, and cognitive capabilities
• Beliefs - convictions and principles
• Language - communication system
• Values - guiding principles and priorities
• Customs - traditional practices and behaviors
• Thoughts - cognitive processes and perceptions of the world
• Age - stage of life
• Social Groups - affiliations and communities
• Status - social standing and position

Influences of Culture on Health

• Culture impacts how people perceive and treat health.
• Individuals may have distinct beliefs regarding health and illness, treatment preferences, and healthcare practices.
• Cultural norms can affect individual choices and behaviors, influencing their overall well-being.
• Assimilation involves integrating into a new culture, potentially leading to changes in health practices.

### Diversity

• The U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse in cultures and ethnicities.
• Differences exist between dominant and various cultural groups regarding health and illness.

Cultural Competence in Nursing Care

• Cultural competence involves acquiring specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes to provide culturally congruent care.
• Culturally congruent care aligns with an individual's values, life patterns, and meanings.
• Seeking cultural guidance from the family, with the patient's permission, can enhance culturally congruent care.

Cultural Conflicts

• Ethnocentrism occurs when individuals believe their own culture is superior to others, leading to bias and prejudice.
• Cultural Imposition happens when someone lacks knowledge of another culture, imposing their own values and beliefs on them.

### Spirituality and Religion

• Spirituality is a personal process of finding meaning and purpose in life.
• Religion is an organized system of beliefs and practices that a person follows to express their spirituality outwardly.
• Religious practices encompass spirituality.
• Spirituality may or may not involve religious practices.

Spiritual Distress

• A challenge to or feeling of dissatisfaction with one's spiritual well-being or belief system.
• Potential causes include healthcare treatment conflicting with beliefs and restrictions on spiritual rituals.

### Cultural Awareness

• Emic worldview: The insider, or native, perspective.
• Etic worldview: An outsider’s perspective.

Communicating Culturally

• Healthcare organizations are required to provide language access services (translation and interpretation).
• Family members and friends should not be used as interpreters to protect confidentiality.
• Nonverbal communication (tone of voice, gestures, facial expressions) should be considered when using interpreter services.

Older Adults and Cultural Considerations

• Ask older adults how they prefer to be addressed and their preferred pronouns (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss).
• Determine their preferences for touch, eye contact, and silence during conversations.

### Cultural Variations

• US Americans often greet each other with a firm handshake.
• Native Americans may perceive a firm handshake as aggressive.
• Eastern cultures value silence.
• Western cultures can be uncomfortable with silence.
• European American cultures use direct eye contact to indicate honesty and truthfulness.
• Older Asian adults may avoid eye contact with authority figures out of respect.
• Direct eye contact between genders in Middle Eastern cultures can be forbidden except between spouses.

### Cultural Treatments

• Cultural practices, such as cupping and coining, may appear like physical abuse if the nurse is not informed and open to learning about them.
• Cupping involves applying heat or suction to the skin to create a vacuum.
• Coining involves rubbing a smooth object on the skin to create a bruise, believed to relieve “heatiness” and “negative energies.”

### Improving Diversity IQ

• Exposing oneself to different perspectives can enhance awareness of diversity.

Explore how culture shapes individual perspectives, behaviors, and health views in this engaging quiz. Understand the various components of culture, such as religion, ethnicity, and gender, and their influences on community organization. Test your knowledge about the significant role culture plays in shaping human interactions and thoughts.