Diversity and Difference in Health Care · 2015-05-22 · 2. Why is honoring a patient’s preference for natural remedies so important? Why should you be aware of what herbs comprise

29Online Study Guide to Accompany Introduction to Health Care & Careers © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

CHAPTER13

H ealth care professionals interact with people from a variety of backgrounds

and cultural origins. This is true of both the patients they care for and their

coworkers. In the United States, cultural diversity is characterized by a wide

range of distinctions, including race, national origin, religion, language, physical

size, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, socioeconomic and occupational

status, and geographic location.

Individual patients and providers both have their own beliefs and values,

which give rise to personal principles. How a person perceives health care is

greatly infl uenced by his or her cultural, social, and religious beliefs as well as his

1. Name cultural and ethnic differences that you may encounter in the workplace and explain how they may relate to health care, p. 30.

2. Describe how people of different races and cultures vary physically and psychologically, p. 31.

3. Give examples of cultural differences involving reac-tions to pain, gender roles, time orientation, and food and nutrition preferences, p. 31.

4. Identify differences among individuals based on socioeconomic factors, age, and religion, p. 32.

5. Describe examples of diverse health care practices, including natural remedies and complementary and alternative treatments, p. 33.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

After care ful s tudy of th i s chapter, you should be able to :

Diversity and Difference in Health Care

KEY TERMS

acculturationcultural assimilationcultural diversityculture

dominant groupethnicityethnocentrism

folk medicinehereditaryimmigrate

minority groupracesubculture

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30 PART II PROFESS IONAL SKILLS

Online Study Guide to Accompany Introduction to Health Care & Careers © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

or her personal convictions. As a rule, you should work to avoid assuming that a

particular social or cultural group is superior or inferior in some way. View every

person, whether an acquaintance, patient, or coworker, as a unique, valuable

individual. People should not be judged based on cultural or societal differences.

Instead, the differences among people should be appreciated and respected.

Viewing and treating people as individuals is especially important for health

care workers. An important tenet of the health care provider’s ethical code

demands that everyone be treated with equal care and respect. Learning about

many of the customs and beliefs among cultures that affect patients’ attitudes

toward health care will help you provide better care to those patients.

BUILD YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Objective 1: Name cultural and ethnic differences that you may encounter in the workplace and explain how they may relate to health care.Crossword

Complete this crossword puzzle using clues across and down to familiarize yourself with cultural and ethnic differences as they relate to health care.


C H A P T E R 6 Divers i t y and D i f fe rence in Hea l th Care 31


Across 1. Characterized by a wide range of distinctions,

including race, national origin, religion, lan-guage, physical size, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, socioeconomic status, occupa-tional status, and geographic location (2 words)

6. Shared system of beliefs, values, customs, and behavioral expectations that provide structure for daily living

10. To settle in a new country

12. Another term for cultural assimilation

13. Term that describes diseases or traits that are inherited genetically

14. These can be cultural, social, religious, and personal and infl uence how we perceive situa-tions and other people

15. Group within a society that usually has some physical or cultural characteristics, such as race or religion, that identify the people within it as different from the dominant group (2 words)

Down 1. Process that occurs when an individual shifts

his or her identity from the minority group to the dominant group and adopts the values, atti-tudes, and behaviors of the dominant culture (2 words)

2. Group (usually the largest) within a society that tends to control that society’s values (2 words)

3. Assumption that a particular social or cultural group is superior in some way

4. Group of people who are members of a larger cultural group, but whose attitudes and behav-iors refl ect different beliefs and values from those of the larger culture

5. Psychological discomfort caused by living in a dominant culture that differs from one’s own that may lead to feelings of foolishness, fear, inadequacy, embarrassment, humiliation, or inferiority (2 words)

7. Group of people related by heredity who share specifi c physical characteristics, such as skin pigmentation, body stature, facial features, and hair texture

8. Viewing and treating patients and coworkers as individuals is part of the health care provider’s ethical code and demands that everyone be treated with equal care and what else?

9. Mistaken perception that arises from prejudging someone based on cultural or societal differences

11. Sense of identifi cation with a group based on a common heritage, including language, reli-gious practices, music, and cuisine

Objectives 2 and 3: Describe how people of different races and cultures vary physically and psychologically, and give examples of cultural differences involving reactions to pain, gender roles, time orientation, and food and nutrition preferences.Jumble

After answering the questions below about physical, psychological, and cultural differences among various ethnicities, use the circled letters to form the answer to this jumble (punctuation [e.g., hyphens, apostro-phes, etc.] counts as a character).

Clue: When the Hispanic comedian’s “humor” got out of whack, whom did he see for treatment?

1. Nose shape and size and skin color are _ _ _ _ _ _ _ adaptations that evolved because of different

climates in which human groups lived to help improve their lives and well-being.

2. Tay-Sachs disease and sickle cell anemia are examples of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ disorders.




3. People with dark skin are more likely to develop _ _ _ _ _ _, overgrowths of connective tissue that

form during healing from an injury to the skin.

4. _ _ _ _ _ _ defi ciency is more common among certain groups, including Hispanic women and men

and women of African, Chinese, and Thai descent.

5. Putting aside your own opinions and trying to look at circumstances from the patients’ points of view

is respecting their _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ characteristics.

6. Although making _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is considered courteous in some cultures, others fi nd it disrespectful.

7. If you are providing direct patient care, you should be sensitive to signs that patients are in _ _ _,

because in some cultures expressing pain is considered a sign of weakness, and your patient may mask

his or her problem.

8. Knowing which _ _ _ _ _ and which member of the family is dominant in a certain culture is an

important consideration when planning patient care.

9. Although some cultures value promptness and punctuality, in others, being _ _ _ is considered a

sign of respect.

10. In _ _ _ _ _, corn is considered an animal feed, whereas people commonly eat it in the United States.

Objective 4: Identify differences among individuals based on socioeconomic factors, age, and religion.True or False?

After reviewing the section, “Other Differences Among Individuals,” read the statements below and circle T if they are true or F if they are false.

1. T F Economics, age, and religion play signifi cant roles in shaping every individual’s view of health care.

2. T F Studies have shown that people in lower-income groups tend to live longer and expe-rience less disability than those in upper-income groups.

3. T F Poverty particularly affects older Americans and families headed by single mothers.

4. T F Crowded living conditions have been associated with schizophrenia and other psy-chological problems as well as the spread of disease.

5. T F In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that around 1.8 percent of Americans live in poverty.

6. T F Poverty rates are the same across ethnic groups in the United States.

7. T F Sixty-year-olds who exercise regularly and have no chronic conditions may be healthier than younger adults who are obese, for example, and suffering from related conditions; therefore, it is essential to not make assumptions about a patient based solely on his or her age.

8. T F Patients’ physical and emotional needs should not change as they grow older.

9. T F Findings from a recent study showed that patients who attend religious services at least once a week are signifi cantly less likely to have been admitted to the hospital in the previous year, have fewer overall hospital admissions, and spend fewer total days in the hospital than those attending services less often.


C H A P T E R 6 Divers i t y and D i f fe rence in Hea l th Care 33


10. T F Even though males in some cultures believe they should not be touched by women who are not members of their families, female health care professionals should over-ride that belief, because providing care even in nonemergency situations is more important than respecting religious beliefs.

Objective 5: Describe examples of diverse health care practices, including natural remedies and complementary and alternative treatments.Short Answer

After reading the section, “Diversity in Health Care Practices” in Chapter 6, answer the following ques-tions and be as specifi c as you can.

1. Explain each of the following nontraditional forms of healing and how they contribute to treatment.

a. Cutaneous stimulation

b. Therapeutic touch

c. Acupuncture

d. Acupressure

2. Why is honoring a patient’s preference for natural remedies so important? Why should you be aware of what herbs comprise the natural remedy?

3. For each of the cultural groups listed below, name at least two special considerations for providing patient care.

a. White non-Hispanic

b. African American

c. Asian

d. Hispanic

e. Puerto Rican (one example is suffi cient here)




f. Native American

g. Hawaiian

h. Appalachian

EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Essay QuestionFrom your Internet search of folk remedies for conditions that you are interested in, write a brief essay describing the remedy in detail. Explain how you may or may not be able to use this folk remedy to com-plement the traditional health care you would provide in your future career.


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Diversity and Difference in Health Care · 2015-05-22 · 2. Why is honoring a patient’s preference for natural remedies so important? Why should you be aware of what herbs comprise