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As culture influences a range of aspects in human life, it is also impactful in the case of receiving and seeking healthcare. The approaches to life and everyday practices inherent to each culture affect the perceptions of healthcare and can, therefore, dictate how well people are accustomed to specific care procedures. For nurses, cultural competence is associated with the effort to recognize and understand the beliefs and traditions of diverse populations. Because of this, exploring the influence of the culture of healthcare practices is an essential part of understanding relevant practices and determining the methods of enhancing care for patients from different backgrounds.
Patients of different backgrounds may have various opinions about seeking the care of healthcare specialists because of the way in which they were raised. For example, Western industrialized societies such as Europe and Northern America see diseases as results of naturally occurring scientific phenomena. Therefore, they advocate for the implementation of modern treatments and the use of the latest technologies for diagnosing and treating diseases. Other societies, especially those who heavily rely on the belief in the supernatural, consider illnesses as curses and promote the use of prayer and other spiritual interventions that are polarly opposite to the Western approach to treatment.
Within the cultural background, there may be a large range of factors that influence the hesitancy of some patients to seek the assistance of healthcare specialists. When cultures have a particular distrust of authorities, they are less likely to seek professional medical care. Such distrust may be fueled by the beliefs that authorities are untruthful in the definition of a disease or that illness is deliberately spread by health workers to gain financial advantage. Such misconceptions were prevalent in some parts of West Africa that were at risk of Ebola (Omoleke, Mohammed, & Saidu, 2016). The stereotype that the government would lie to its people just to spread panic resulted in an increased rate of the disease severity.
Apart from the stereotypes and mistrust in the government, both language and healthcare access contribute to individuals’ hesitancy to seek out medical care. For instance, in the study by Pearson, Zhao, and Ford (2011), it was found that elderly Hispanic patients were less likely to get flu vaccinations because of poor English proficiency. Similarly, Chando, Tiro, Harris, Kobrin, and Breen (2013), parents that spoke predominantly Spanish in California were much less likely to vaccinate their children against the Human Papillomavirus. The language that healthcare providers use can play a defining role in cultures’ approaches to seeking healthcare because the communication in patients’ native languages can positively influence the health competency of the latter and guarantee the establishment of close relationships between practitioners and their patients.
In summary, it is important to mention that nurses should increase their cultural competence in order to ensure that patients of all backgrounds understand the importance of seeking high-quality and professional care. Some cultures may be opposed to approaching medical specialists due to the distrust in authorities, while others are hesitant to contact their healthcare providers because they lack language skills. Regardless of the reasons behind people avoiding seeking the assistance of nurses and other medical personnel, it is essential for professionals in the field to be open to the approaches of various cultures to healthcare and provide the highest quality of care at all times.
References
Chando, S., Tiro, J. A., Harris, T. R., Kobrin, S., & Breen, N. (2013). Effects of socioeconomic status and health care access on low levels of human papillomavirus vaccination among Spanish-speaking Hispanics in California. American Journal of Public Health, 103(2), 270-272.
Omoleke, S. A., Mohammed, I., & Saidu, Y. (2016). Ebola viral disease in West Africa: A threat to global health, economy and political stability. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 7(1), 534.
Pearson, W., Zhao, G., & Ford, E. (2011). An analysis of language as a barrier to receiving influenza vaccinations among an elderly Hispanic population in the United States. Advances in Preventive Medicine, 2011, 1-6.
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