1. 7.02 Analyze behaviors and their cultural significance
Tina Marie Hunt, RN, BSN, HOE

2. Bias A preference that prevents impartial judgement
Barrier to effective communication/relationship with others
Examples:
Age: Young people are physically & mentally superior to older people
Job: Nurses are inferior to doctors

3. Ethnocentric
People who believe in the supremacy of their own ethnic group
Believe their cultural values are better than other people.
Barrier to effective communication/relationship with others
Example:
KKK
Holy Rollers

4. Prejudice
Pre-judge
A strong feeling or belief about a person or subject that is formed without reviewing the facts or information
Individuals are usually afraid of things that are different

5. Prejudice Interferes with interpersonal relationships
Everyone is prejudiced to some degree
Barrier to effective communication/relationship with others

6. Stereotyping
Occurs when an assumption is made that everyone in a particular group is the same
Ignores individual characteristics
Labels an individual

7. Stereotyping
Barrier to effective communication/relationship with others
Example:
All blondes are dumb
Asians are smarter than Americans

8. Holistic care Definition: Care for the well-being of the whole person.
Social
Mental
Physical
Emotional

9. Family organization
Nuclear
Extended

10. Family organization
Patriarchal Matriarchal

11. Family organization
Health care implications - where we live or who we live with affects our health care.
Structure must be respected.
Determines who will provide care for other sick members and take part in tx plan
Determines who will decide medical care decisions

12. Language U.S. Dominant language is ENGLISH
20% of U.S. population speaks a language other than English at home.
HCP must ask questions to determine the pt’s ability to communicate.
When possible, find a translator.

13. Techniques for non-English speaking patients
Speak slowly and use simple words
Use gestures or pictures
Use non-verbal – smile and touch
DON’T speak louder
Learn a few essential words and
phrases

14. Personal space and touch
people from Various cultures often react to person space and touch differently
Keep in mind that not everyone from a specific culture or ethnic groups responds in exactly the same way.

15. Personal space and touch
the distance people need to feel comfortable when interacting.
Gender – cultural values will play a role in the gender of clients

16. Personal space and touch
Close contact – comfortable standing very close to & even touching the person with whom they are interacting.
distant contact – maintain their personal space and may not like to be touched.

17. Personal space and touch
Arabs – touch, smell, & feel with whom they interact (close)
French and Latin Americans – stand close while talking (close)
Hispanic Americans – hugs & handshakes (close)
European and African Americans – (distant) 2-6 ft apart, shake hands as greeting

18. Personal space and touch
Asian Americans – stand close, do not touch, reserve kissing and hugging for intimate relationships (distant)
Cambodia – never touch in public, only parent can touch head of child (distant)
Vietnamese – allow only head of child to be touched by elders – head is considered sacred (distant)

19. Personal space and touch
Middle Eastern countries – only men shake hands with men, men do not touch females who are not immediate family members, may refuse health care due to sex of provider (distant)
Native Americans -feel personal space is important but will touch lightly another person’s hand in greeting (distant)

20. Eye contact Varies among culture
understand that when someone from another culture does not maintain eye contact, it could be for cultural reasons.

21. Eye contact European Americans
Maintaining eye contact sign of interest and trustworthiness

22. Eye contact
Some Asian Americans consider direct eye contact to be rude.
Native Americans – use peripheral vision and avoid direct eye contact, may regard direct stares as hostile and threatening

23. Eye contact
Hispanic and African American – may use brief eye contact but then look away to indicate respect and attentiveness
Muslim women avoid eye contact as a sign of modesty
India – people of different socioeconomic classes may avoid eye contact with each other

24. Gestures Hand gestures mean different things in different countries
Health care workers
must be sensitive
when using hand gestures

25. Gestures
Examples :
U.S. nodding head up and down is “yes” and back and forth is “no.”
In India, it’s the exact opposite.
In U.S. pointing is OK
Many Asians and Native Americans could represent this as a strong threat
Hand gesture for OK in U.S.
can be insulting to some Asians