Introduction
Why is Cultural Competency important in health care? “Cultural Competence in health care describes the ability of systems to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, including tailoring delivery to meet patient 's social, cultural, and linguistic needs” (Betancourt, Green, & Carrillo, 2002). In health care, cultural competence is important in many aspects. Without cultural competency one would not have the ability to provide proper care to patients that have a different cultural background. For example, if a doctor was not familiarized with the values, beliefs, or behaviors of a Vietnamese American, could the doctor really provide the proper etiquette to the patients?
Bio-cultural Variations and Cultural …show more content…
One primary barrier is the communication chasm between doctors and patients. Periyakoil, Neri, and Kramer discusses in their article, Patient-Reported Barriers to High-Quality, End of Life Care, how Vietnamese Americans dealt with a barrier with communicating with the health care provider on their end of life care (2015). When it comes to deliberating about end of life care, doctor to patient communication should not be a barrier. Readily accessible resources, to provide information to help communicate properly, should be made available to help avoid communication barrier …show more content…
They commonly use herbalists or spiritual leaders, and rely on home remedies and folk practices. Some also believe that health relies on harmony and balance, and disruption of this leads to illness. Foods are classified as “hot” or “cold”, and are either consumed or avoided depending on the problem. They use a number of folk practices to treat various symptoms or illnesses, such as rubbing oils/liniments, skin pinching, placing incense on skin, acupuncture, use of herbal teas and soups, and eating animal organ meats to strengthen their own corresponding body part. Because of these beliefs, Vietnamese Americans have high incidences of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, with cancer being the leading cause of death (Purnell,
Why is Cultural Competency important in health care? “Cultural Competence in health care describes the ability of systems to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, including tailoring delivery to meet patient 's social, cultural, and linguistic needs” (Betancourt, Green, & Carrillo, 2002). In health care, cultural competence is important in many aspects. Without cultural competency one would not have the ability to provide proper care to patients that have a different cultural background. For example, if a doctor was not familiarized with the values, beliefs, or behaviors of a Vietnamese American, could the doctor really provide the proper etiquette to the patients?
Bio-cultural Variations and Cultural …show more content…
One primary barrier is the communication chasm between doctors and patients. Periyakoil, Neri, and Kramer discusses in their article, Patient-Reported Barriers to High-Quality, End of Life Care, how Vietnamese Americans dealt with a barrier with communicating with the health care provider on their end of life care (2015). When it comes to deliberating about end of life care, doctor to patient communication should not be a barrier. Readily accessible resources, to provide information to help communicate properly, should be made available to help avoid communication barrier …show more content…
They commonly use herbalists or spiritual leaders, and rely on home remedies and folk practices. Some also believe that health relies on harmony and balance, and disruption of this leads to illness. Foods are classified as “hot” or “cold”, and are either consumed or avoided depending on the problem. They use a number of folk practices to treat various symptoms or illnesses, such as rubbing oils/liniments, skin pinching, placing incense on skin, acupuncture, use of herbal teas and soups, and eating animal organ meats to strengthen their own corresponding body part. Because of these beliefs, Vietnamese Americans have high incidences of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, with cancer being the leading cause of death (Purnell,