1. CARING ABOUT CULTURE
TPJ4M

2. CARING ABOUT CULTURE 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 (Cited by J. Anderson, RN, PhD, 1987)

3. CARING ABOUT CULTURE
Race - refers to groups of people who share similar features, such as
skin colour
hair colour and texture
facial characteristics
bone structure
Ex- Caucasians, Aboriginals, blacks, Asians

4. CARING ABOUT CULTURE
Ethnicity – is not necessarily a nationality, but, refers to groups of people who share a common:
history
language
geography
national origin
religion
identity
Ex. Chinese, Irish, Inuit

5. CARING ABOUT CULTURE
Culture refers to the learned values, beliefs, norms and way of life that influence an individual’s thinking, decisions and actions in certain ways.
Culture is the characteristics of a group of people and does not necessarily mean you are from a certain country. EX. You could be an Asian (race) from Ireland (ethnicity) who is Muslim (culture/religion)
Culture includes:
Language * Ways of life
Values * Rules of behaviour
Beliefs * Traditions
habits
These characteristics are learned from living within the group and influence a person’s attitudes and behaviours

6. What other examples can you think of?
CARING ABOUT CULTURE
Culture doesn’t just mean a language, religion or country. Culture is everywhere, everyone has a culture and each person’s culture is individual.
Nurses
Schools
Police officers
Workplace
Cities
Gangs
What other examples can you think of?

7. CARING ABOUT CULTURE EFFECT OF CULTURE
Culture affects many different things:
communication
family and social organization
religion and worship
health care practices and reactions to illness
As well as culture is influenced by many factors such as:
gender
race
ethnicity
life events
religion
age and many more....

8. CARING ABOUT CULTURE
CULTURE AFFECTS COMMUNICATION
touch
personal space
eye contact
facial expressions
silence
CULTURE AND THE FAMILY
In Western culture the nuclear family is the most common and care outside of the immediate family is often left to others
In Asian and Aboriginal cultures, extended families are common, elder and sick family members are often taken care of by the family
Explain how touch, personal space etc affect communication.

9. CARING ABOUT CULTURE
CULTURE AND RELIGION
You will care for clients that have different religious beliefs than you. Some do not practice religion.
You must always respect the clients beliefs, practices and religious symbols/items.
Never try to convert a client
CULTURE AND PERCEPTIONS
Culture greatly affects how people view health care.
Different cultures have different beliefs on the causes and cures for illnesses. Be aware if your client is taking any herbal medicine or practicing alternative therapies.

10. CARING ABOUT CULTURE PROVIDING CULTURALLY SENSITIVE CARE
It is extremely important as a health care worker in today’s society to provide culturally sensitive care because each client is an individual with their own culture
Never stereotype a client based on ethnicity, religion or for any other reason
Stereotype – overly simple or exaggerated impression of a person or group of people
Stereotypes are often associated with prejudice
Prejudice – an attitude that judges a person based on his/her membership in a group
Prejudice often leads to discrimination
Discrimination – a behaviour that treats people unfairly based on their group membership
Discuss each