Aging and The Multicultural Community

Question 1

What is culture

Answer 1

• the sum total way of living

- includes beliefs, values, standards, language, thinking patterns, behaviors

Question 2

Manifestations of culture

Answer 2

• religion
• ethnicity (race)
• language
• gender
• age
• education
• educational status
• mobility and disability

Question 3

How does culture express itself in health care?

Answer 3

-define and categorize health and illness
-offer explanatory models for illness, disabilities, and plan for recovery
-defines the specific scope of practice for healers
-may partially explain disparities in health service delivery
(age, sex, who gets immediate response?)

Question 4

In the US minority populations lag behind the euro population on a number of key health indicators including:

Answer 4

• health care coverage
• access to health care
• life expectancy
• acute and chronic disease states

Question 5

Common barriers to providing culturally sensitive health care include:

Answer 5

• underestimation of need for service
• lack of appreciation for cultural belief differences related to illness, suffering, and dying
• language and other communication barriers

Question 6

What will help eliminate these disparities?

Answer 6

-culturally healthcare guidelines

Question 7

what does it mean to be culturally competent

Answer 7

-being aware that the beliefs, practices, habits, likes, dislikes, norms, customs, rituals, and experiences make each patient who they are

Question 8

Why be culturally competent?

Answer 8

-many cultures populate our country
-important to understand impact of backgrounds on health delivery
-ITS THE LAW!
(Civil Rights Act 1964)
(Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act)
(Medicaid)
(Medicare)

Question 9

Personal space

Answer 9

space around themselves

Question 10

territoriality

Answer 10

-areas people claim and defend when encroached upon

Question 11

intimate zone

Answer 11

1.5 ft=private place

Question 12

personal distance

Answer 12

1.5-4 ft extension of self

Question 13

social distance

Answer 13

4-12 ft, impersonal business transactions

Question 14

public distance

Answer 14

> 12 ft impersonal

Question 15

Cultural observations

Answer 15

• time orientation
• touch
• privacy
• communication style

Question 16

culture of western medicine

Answer 16

• make it better (meliorism)
• dominance over nature, take control
• activism
• timeliness
• therapeutic aggressiveness, stronger=better
• future orientation-plan, newer=better
• standardization- treat similar the same

Question 17

4 dimensions of culture

Answer 17

• context
• power distance
• collectivism vs individualism
• co residence norms
• masculinity

Question 18

low context vs high context

Answer 18

LOW: some cultures give words great importance, regardless of who, when, or where, context is less important, most information is explicitly spelled out (US, england, and other northern european cultures)

HIGH: other cultures interpret feelings and ideas without words, information is inferred from the context of the message

Question 19

power distance

Answer 19

• degree of hierarchy in a culture
• extent to which people within a society share power and control
• in a high power culture some people are seen as having inherently greater status
• people within a culture agree to defer to those people with high power distance
• age is power in many japanese cultures

Question 20

collectivism vs individualism

Answer 20

collectivism: believe in maintaining harmony between individuals, supporting social relationships and valuing success of the group over the individual (east asian, central american)
individualism: believe in individual success, expressing oneself and becoming an individual (north americans of european origin)

Question 21

co-residence norms

Answer 21

• in some cultures it may be typical for multiple generations of families to live together in a single residence
• coresidence is associated with daily contact and a more established intergenerational relationship

Question 22

masculinity

Answer 22

in masculine cultures:

• fathers=facts, mothers=feelings
• girls cry, boys fight back
• taboo speaking about sex
• migrants should assimilate

in feminine cultures:

• fathers and mothers handle facts and feelings
• boy and girls might cry, but should not fight
• explicitness about sex

Question 23

machismo

Answer 23

men have sacred role, term used in latin cultures to indicate maleness, virility, and the mans role as provider and protector

Question 24

marianismo

Answer 24

derived from cult of virgin mary in that women are seen as morally and spiritually superior and capable of enduring greater suffering

Question 25

life experiences that may have a tremendous effect on how a person responds

Answer 25

• -income
• discrimination
• world events
• immigration

Question 26

strategies for improving the caregiver/patient relationship across cultures and ages

Answer 26

• do not treat them in the same manner you would wanna be treated (how do they wanna be treated?)
• CULTURE determines the roles for polite, caring behavior and will formulate the patients concept of a good relationship
• begin by being more formal with patients from another culture (use adults last name)
• do not make assumptions about the patients ideas about the ways to maintain health, the cause of illness or measure to prevent/cure it.
• allow patient to be open and honest
• do not discount beliefs that are not held by western biomedicine
• conduct a self examination of your own cultural background, attitudes, and life experiences