Intercultural Communication and Healthcare Importance, Barriers, Religion, Theories

Importance of Communication in Healthcare Due to various cultures, healthcare workers need to be able to effectively communicate with patients. Certain cultures have certain practices or stigmas related to discussing medical conditions. An example is mental illnesses – some cultures believe it is not a medical condition but rather traditional imbalance with the ancestors. Some patients from rural areas may not understand what it means to ‘take your medicine three times a day’ but rather ‘when the sun rises, when the sun is at its brightest and when the sun is gone’.

Intercultural barriers to Effective Healthcare Historical treatment - In chapter 5 we touched on labels and perception. Historically black/African people’s bodies were a source of fascination and mockery too (think Sartjie Baartman) and this also fueled perception that black bodies were fraught with disease which is obviously not true as this was just a racist thought of mind. The rise of HIV/AIDS in the late twentieth century fueled perception that it only affected the gay community. As evidence today shows, HIV affects anyone not just a particular community. We have campaigns such as the LoveLife campaign that aims to educate youth about how HIV is spread as well as World AIDS Day on 1 December to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.

Intercultural barriers to Effective Healthcare Prejudicial ideologies: these are sets of ideas based on stereotypes This affects our attitude towards people and this in turn becomes a problem when we are healthcare workers and patients too. A patient may refuse to be treated by a particular gender, for example, because he believes ‘a woman’s place is in the kitchen’ and not in a clinic/hospital – this is just an example. This has created mistrust – thus people have resorted to receiving information about their conditions from their own communities rather healthcare practitioners. This could lead to further problems as they may not receive the correct advice.

Religion and healthcare Healthcare practitioners have to be aware and knowledgeable about different religions. Patients may refuse medication due to religious reasons. Some may refuse medical attention due to spiritual reasons as mentioned earlier. Healthcare practitioners must always maintain ethical practices and communicate with the patient the consequences of their decisions and note it down with a witness to prevent a lawsuit. Pg. 224 of the textbook outlines 7 steps when dealing with the issue of religion and healthcare.

Cultural Influences on Approaches to Medicine Different cultures bring different perspectives on our health – some cultures accept western/contemporary medicine and others prefer alternative medicine Alternative medicine includes homeopathy, acupuncture, naturopathy and traditional Chinese medicine