Week 2 - Class 2 (Culture as Context) Flashcards
What does culture mean?
- Guides the behaviour of a particular group of people
- Incorporates the experiences of the past and influences the present
- Explains patterns of thoughts and actions
- Contributes to the group’s physical and social activities
- Culture is learned and shared from parents, teachers, religious and political leaders and respected persons
- Normally, children learn as they are growing up
What is culture confused with?
Ethnicity - category of people with common identifier - i.e. language, ancestry, etc.
How does culture impact health?
- An individual’s perception of health and illness, and even why they may have an illness
- Their health behaviour(s)
- Beliefs of what is an actual health issue (and what isn’t)
- Their relationships with health care providers
- Influences how people perceive they should talk/act within the context of an illness
- Diversity can result in marginalization and vulnerability due to race, gender, ethnicity – this in turn impacts ability to access health care
What is the cultural iceberg?
Top: Awareness/Visible
- Artifacts
- Behaviour
Bottom: Out of conscious awareness / invisible
- Norms
- Beliefs
- Values
- Assumptions
Why is an understanding of culture important to nursing?
To care for someone, I must know who I am.
To care for someone, I must know who the other is.
To care for someone, I must be able to bridge the gap
between myself and the other.
- Jean Watson
What are reactions to cultural differences?
Reactions to cultural differences are automatic, often subconscious and influence the dynamics of the nurse-client relationship.
Does everyone have a culture?
Yes
- Culture is individual. Individual assessments are necessary to identify relevant cultural factors within the context of each situation for each client
- An individual’s culture is influenced by many factors, such as race, gender, religion, ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and life experience. The extent to which particular factors influence a person will vary.
Why is culture dynamic?
It changes and evolves over time as individuals change over time.
What is cultural safety? Sensitivity? Awareness? Competence?
Cultural safety move beyond the cultural competence of the service provider, to the experience of the person receiving services.
Cultural awareness is having a beginning understanding that there are cultural differences between groups, as well as similarities, and not assigning value to hose differences.
Cultural sensitivity is an awareness that difference is legitimate and beginning a process of inquiry that explores how one’s own experiences and values may impact others.
Cultural competence refers to the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to create culturally safe places.
What are 4 cultural conflicts?
1) Ethnocentrism
- Stereotypes
- Discrimination
2) Cultural Imposition
- Use own values as guides to treatment, understanding others behaviour
3) Racism
- Personal
- Organizational
4) Privilege
What is racism?
Involves specific actions and attitudes whereby one group exerts power over others on the basis of either skin colour or racial heritage
Describe the following example of intersections between health and culture:
Indigenous Health
1) Indigenous Health
- Tuberculosis, DM, HIV/AIDS, Cancer, COPD, Substance abuse, etc.
- all of the above are experienced at higher rates than non Indigenous Canadians
Why?
- Colonialism
- Residential schools
- Loss of culture/language
- Lack of housing
- Cost of living
- Trauma
- Past exp. with health care
- Smoking/drinking
- Lack of healthy food
What did the TRC do?
- Make links between indigenous health disparities and Canadian policies
- Establish measurable goals and close the gap in health outcomes
- Recognize and address distinct health needs
- Fund healing centres caused by residential schools
- Recognize and use aboriginal healing processes
- Increase and retain aboriginal health professionals - cultural competency training
- coursework and training in all medical and nursing schools
Describe the following example of intersections between health and culture:
LGBTQ+
“All providers need to be aware of the impact of government documentation as a social determinant of health” (Rainbow Health Ontario, 2020)
- Government Documentation is not an accepted SDoH
- This organization is saying documentation should accurately reflect the individuals identity; barriers in place of equitable treatment and access to services
Health Disparity:
- “Although lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer identified (LGBTQ) people are as diverse as the general Canadian population in their experiences of mental health and well-being, they face higher risks for some mental health issues due to the effects of discrimination and the social determinants of health” (CMHA, 2020).
What do the LGBTQ+ experience higher levels of compared to heterosexuals?
- Depression/anxiety
- OCD
- Self-harm
- Isolation
- Loss of family support
- Violence
- Discrimination
- Harassment
- Sexual/Physical Assault
- Violent hate crimes
- Substance abuse
- Suicide 14x higher
What is the basic premise of cultural assessment?
The basic premise of the cultural assessment is that patients have a right to their cultural beliefs, values, and practices, and that these factors should be understood, respected, and considered when giving culturally competent care
